Quest for the Golden Apple
by PhilippinePatriot
Summary: To get Demeter's approval to date her daughter, Nathan must first prove himself
1. Chapter 1

**Nathan's POV**

"Are you sure this is a good idea Sam?" I asked nervously, running a hand across my hair which had been fixed and combed by Sam. I followed a few steps behind her as she led me through the busy New York streets. I looked down and checked if the bouquet I had with me was still ok and not crushed by the throngs of crowds we had to pass to get here. Sam hardly seemed to care as she swiftly ducked and dodged through the people in her effort to lead me.

For a daughter of Aphrodite, she was pretty cool. She wasn't as bitchy as the rest of her siblings and agreed to take me to Demeter's headquarters to ask for her blessing. She was a head shorter than me but with long blonde hair that went down to the middle of her back, big amber eyes and somehow made shorts and a T-shirt like gorgeous.

She stopped a few minutes later in front of a store and pointed up at it. It was a flower shop, albeit one larger than some apartment buildings. It rose up five stories high with windows practically overflowing with green trees and shrubs that should not have been able to survive inside a shop like that. Hanging from the second floor was a simple wooden sign with the words written in bright yellow paint. Demeter's Garden. Not the most subtle name.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" I asked sarcastically, but inside I felt myself shrink back. It might not have been as large as Mount Olympus or as fearsome as the Palace of Hades, but there was something about this place that made me shiver. It had an untamed, primeval sense here. Although it could just be because of what he had to do.

Sam rolled her eyes and grabbed me by the arm and led me inside. "Come on lets go."

Inside the place looked like a jungle had sprung to life in the building. The floor itself was soil and the ceiling was made up almost entirely of glass that allowed the sun to bathe the whole place in its life and leave the room a mix of yellows and greens. There there a huge open air gallery that rose up to the third floor and in it grew dozens of exotic trees and plants straight out from the amazon.

All of which could poison, strangle or crush him like a bug if the goddess wasn't pleased. A young woman in a pantsuit stood behind the answering desk and smiled at us, patiently waiting for us to approach her. I felt the mist get a bit distorted around her and blinked once. When I opened my eyes the woman had transformed into Dryad in a dress of leaves and flowers.

Sam took the initiative and approached her first. She had a pleasant smile on her face and looked around. "I'm looking for your boss. Is she in today?"

"She is, upstairs on the top floor." The Dryad smiled broadly as she gestured towards one of the larger trees. It was in the corner of the gallery. Its trunk twisted around and around at the canopy, but it also started to twist apart when she gestured for it. It soon revealed an elevator right in the middle of the tree. "Feel free to take the elevator."

The two of us nodded, both a bit surprised as it happened but started to step inside regardless, careful to step over the roots as they did. Sam pressed the button to the top floor and the bark wrapped back over them and sealed shut.

Nature music played over the speaker as they ascended. I rubbed my fingers nervously against the stem, making sure the test tubes holding their water was still there. Sam smiled reassuringly and patted my shoulder. "Don't worry about it, I'm sure she won't kill you."

"Thanks," I replied and nodded my head slightly as the elevator doors opened up for them. We stepped out and entered to a another garden, though this one far less wild than the one downstairs. The room was instead a more conventional garden with plants you could probably find in any backyard from suburban home.

A woman in her late thirties was on her knees, tending a compost field. Her long brown hair was tied back into a ponytail and was dressed in a dress of various hues of green. She looked like an older version of Katie. "Demeter?" I asked, stepping forward.

"Thats Lucy Gardner here," She replied, not glancing up from her work. Even as she reached for a spade and started to dig into the dirt. "Are you here to buy flowers?"

"No ma'am, I'm here to speak to you." I replied, coughing once as my voice began to crack.

Any attention she might have given me now disappeared in that minute. "Then get to the poijt and make it quick."

"Well, um I got you these flowers." I said and held them out for her to see. Demeter turned away from compost, just enough to look at the flowers and take them. She gave only a curt nod in return but it was enough to encourage me to keep going. "So is that your reason for coming here? To give me flowers?"

"Well, umm no-" I began to say.

"So that isn't your point then," Demeter replied flatly, though a bit of irritation began to show in her voice as well as her face which began to crinkle in annoyance. She continued to dig her spade into the dirt, slamming it impatiently.

I gulped softly and slowly shook my head. "Well, no. I came here to ask you for your favor Lady Demeter."

"Ahh, there it is." The goddess said and struck the dirt with her spade hard enough for it to get embedded into the ground. She turned and regarded me slowly, narrowing her eyes and her lips pressing together in a thin line. She eyed me up and down like a mother-in-law to her new son. That didn't fill me with much confidence for what I was about to ask next. "Isn't that what you heroes always want. Very well, what is it you need? A magical potion? Some special power?"

"Your blessing to ask your daughter out on a date." I managed to say. As the words came out, the knot in my chest slowly disappeared. It just sounded right when I said it and I nodded once again as I finished saying my request. I held out the flowers towards Demeter for her to take. Behind me, Sam flashed two thumbs up in encouragement.

For a moment, the sternness vanished from the goddesses face and was replaced with a look of surprise. This lasted only for a moment and the scowl returned to her face. She took the roses from my hand and inspected them like how a jeweler would inspect diamonds. She took a sniff of the roses and nodded. "These are good flowers, at the very least you know how to pay your respects to me."

She waved her hand and a flower vase materialized out of thin air. Demeter placed the roses on it and started to turn back to her work. "Now which daughter do you wish to take on a date?"

I smiled, feeling myself relax. "Katie Gardner ma'am."

She stopped at once and the turned back towards me. The spell holding the flower vase suddenly broke and it started to fall from the air. Demeter turned towards it at the last second, leaving the vase hovering just a few inches in the air. She snapped her fingers and the vase disappeared, but then turned back towards me. "Katie Gardner?"

I nodded my head slowly, feeling the nervousness begin to sink in once again. A thin line formed on her lips as she studied me. "You do understand that she is my oldest child mr…"

"Nathan, ma'am."

"Mr. Nathan. She is my oldest child and my heir. I know that she will not inherit my domain nor my powers, but this is still a very big request you are asking." Demeter folded her arms together and glanced at him, seeming to decide she wasn't impressed at looking at me.

"Now Lady Demeter, if I may interject Katie is quite fine with dating Nathan," Sam said suddenly and stepped behind me.

"And yet you still came here to ask for my permission." She retorted, shooting her an annoyed glare. She started to pace the ground slowly, her sandaled feet clicking on the tiled floor. "Though I suppose it does show your respect and good sense."

That was good. I nodded my head slowly.

"But this is still my oldest daughter, and I can't just give her away like that." She countered to herself and rubbed her chin. "This is a difficult decision to make."

"Umm, lady Demeter with all due respect, parents don't normally control their childrens love life any more. Arranged relationships is more of a 19th-century thing." Sam interjected.

"And I got the roses," I added.

"Nonsense, children are never too old to be controlled, " Demeter said dismissively and looked around. "True, but back in the day heroes would bring back all sorts of treasures to offer to the parents of the women.

"Is there something else you want Lady Demeter?" I asked, placing my hands behind my back and bowing respectfully before her. Though as I did, I crossed my fingers and prayed to the remaining eleven Olympians that the answer was no.

Instead, the goddess simply turned back. "I suppose I will need to get back to you on that, though in the meantime you will not be permitted to court my daughter. Understand?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Good, I will be in touch once something comes to mind. Worry not, I'm sure something will come up quickly. There's always work that needs to be done here." The last part didn't seem to be directed at me but towards herself. Sam took my by the shoulder and steered me towards the elevator.

* * *

"Hey," Katie said looking up from the steps of her cabin floor when she noticed the two of us coming back to the cabins. She stood up and jogged towards us. She looked to me, her green eyes scanning me for any sign of hope. "How did things go with my mom guys?"

I felt the blood rushing to my face as I caught a glimpse of her bright green eyes and brown hair bobbing in every direction. I quickly pulled my hoodie over my head to try and avoid the blush forming on my face. "H-hey Katie. Umm, it wasn't that good. W-well at least your mom didn't turn me into a sunflower like Sam said I would."

"Ya, that's because you brought the roses like what I suggested," Sam playfully punching me as on the shoulder and took a step forward. She forced a smile on her face and tried to seem optimistic. When she glanced back and saw the disappointment on my face the smile disappeared. "Hey, it's not the end of the world."

Katie looked at the two of them with growing concern. "What do you guys mean? What happened?"

"S-she said no," I replied, barely managing to get the words out.

"She said no?" Katie asked, seeming to have a hard time comprehending the meaning of the word. A moment later it all seemed to sink it and started to become crestfallen upon hearing this. She leaned in and gave me a hug.

"Technically what she said was that she needs you to do a quest for her in order for you to gain her approval." Sam corrected.

"Y-ya, so what about it? She'll probably ask me for something impossible."

Katie brightened up instantly upon hearing this. She glanced at me in surprise and squealed happily, her arms wrapping around me and her hug felt more like a boa constrictor wrapping around me. "Is that what she said?"

"W-well y-ya, b-but what difference does it make?"

"You idiot," Katie said playfully, pushing away as a big grin formed on her face. "My mother isn't like the other Olympians, she rarely asks for anything major. She'd probably ask you to go across the country to get some exotic fertilizer or give some extra hands in her flower shop."

"Are you sure?" I asked, wiping the sweat from my palms against my jeans and let out a small sigh of relief.

"Ya, I am." She said with a smile

That was the best thing I heard today and I finally began to return the smile she gave me, slowly at first. I wrapped my arm around her and started to hug her back. "That's great to hear. Thank you."

She happily hugged back. "Don't thank me, your the one who's going to be doing the working."

I chuckled and nodded, taking her hand in my own as I started to head towards the dining pavilion. "Come on, let's get some lunch. I'm starving."


	2. Chapter 2

**Nathan's POV**

I could always count on the camp dining area to make me feel better. It was a big open-air pavilion with Nymphs who served close to anything you want. That kind of power was something that almost rivaled the power of the Big Three. The three of us made our way to the Apollo Cabins table.

Although campers from different cabins sitting together were supposed to be against the rules, enough golden Drachmas were usually enough to silence anyone. I saw a few of my friends sitting around the pavilion. I waved at a couple of them as we passed. Katie Bonifacio and Ryan who were sharing a strawberry milkshake, Piper was with a couple of her sibling as well and Annabeth was typing away at her laptop while Percy shot peas at the Stoll brothers with his spoon.

As soon as we sat down, a water Nymph materialized in front of us. Her watery body was dressed in a waitress uniform with a notepad and pen. She looked at each of us slowly, her brow furrowing somewhat when she noticed that we weren't cabinmates. This lasted only a minute as she quickly shrugged and flashed us a welcoming smile. "So what will it be today?"

I got nachos with extra cheese for myself while Sam and Katie would both get salads. The Naiad took this down on her notepad with a soft giggle. She waved at us goodbye before disappearing into thin air. The wait for their food lasted barely two minutes. The Naiad appeared once again holding three platters of food.

As we started to eat, I began to tap my hands against the wooden table, feeling the beat it made. I gave it a few practice taps until the sound satisfied me I quickly formed a beat in my head and began to play it out. I tapped his spoon against the metal goblet and banged the bottom of my fork against the table to add to the music.

Sam stopped eating, the fork halfway to her mouth. She slowly placed it in but as she chewed, began to nod her head along with the rhythm. Katie watched me and began to clap along with them. HeIfound himself staring at her, the smile she gave was radiant. It only encouraged me to keep going for several more minutes.

Once I stopped, Katie looked at me in surprise. "That was amazing."

I shrugged and smiled sheepishly. "It was nothing."

"Nothing?" Sam added, placing her arm around me and pulled me close. "That was great. Nathan here's been practicing music for years now."

"Years? Well what do you play?" Katie asked as she placed a spoonful of green into her mouth. She had a bit of dressing on her lips which she wiped with a napkin.

"G-guitar,"

This seemed to impress Katie. She looked at him dreamily. "Oh, I always loved guitar music. Maybe you could play for me one time, show me how good you are."

 _Yes_. I wanted to say. I wanted to jump off my seat right at this moment and play my best song for her right then and there, but instead, I felt as if a pegasus was standing on my tongue. Nothing came out for the first moment, but with some effort, I managed to get some words out. "Maybe!"

Thankfully Sam was there to rescue me. "What he means is, he needs some time to practice first, you know to make sure when he plays it will be perfect. He gets rusty sometimes cause he forgets to practice."

"Ahh of course," Katie seemed to buy it and nodded her head in agreement. "That makes sense. Of course you need to practice, practice makes perfect as my mother always says."

Sam nodded her head. "Isn't that right Nathan?"

"Ya," I said, shooting her a dirty look.

This only seemed to amuse her more as she let out a soft giggle. Sam picked up a small cherry tomato that she was toying with her fork before flinging it towards me. The fruit struck me on the head and bounced to the floor.

I rolled my eyes and shook the juices from my hair. Sam's triumph was short lived though as Katie grabbed her by the ear and gave it a short twist. This caused the Daughter of Aphrodite to shriek in pain.

"Don't waste food!" She said darkly, sounding much like an angry mother scolding her child. She let go once Sam nodded her head sullenly. I chuckled at her and patted her head.

I turned back to my food and realized that I was too caught up in playing that beat that I didn't even touch it. I quickly stuffed a handful of chips in my mouth and started to eat. The others turned their attention back to their food, Sam grumbling unhappily as she rubbed her ear. I watched her with some amusement. Katie glanced towards me and gave me a wink and a slight smile.

"Umm, excuse me?" The Naiad from earlier cleared her throat as she appeared once again in front of us. She held a pair of clay jars in her hands which she slowly started to set down on either side of the table. "Nathan you have a message."

I raised an eyebrow. "A message?"

She nodded and pulled a gold drachma from the pocket of her shirt and started to say the normal prayer. She closed her eyes and willed the water from the clay pots out. It shot out from the first pot and created an arch over our heads before falling into the second pot without even spilling a drop. From this arch, a misty portal began to form up and Demeter's flower shop started to appear from the mist. The goddess herself was there as well. She was leaning on a tall scythe as she looked at us.

Katie reached for my hand under the table and nodded. Even though she didn't say anything, I understood what she was trying to say. _Don't worry about it._

"Mother." Katie bowed her head respectfully.

Sam mirrored the gesture but I gulped loudly. "Greetings Lady Demeter."

She responded with a soft hmmm. The goddess slowly glanced at each of us, her lips pursing with disapproval when she saw me. When she spoke her voice was calm though. "I see all of you are together."

"Just to get lunch, my lady," Sam responded quickly.

"Yes, I can see that." She replied, slightly irritated. She probably didn't like someone pointing out the obvious. "Though are there not rules prohibiting children from different cabins from sitting together."

"Umm, these rules are not strictly enforced, mother." Katie tried to explain. "Normally the staff is willing to allow this so long as no one causes any trouble.

It was a pretty weak excuse, and they all knew it. I just hoped that Demeter would accept it. The stern look on her face though didn't fill him with confidence. She simply nodded her head. "Then I will bring this up with my drunkard of a nephew. Rules are meant to be followed, then again when has he ever obeyed my brother's rules. That's what got him there in the first place."

"Might we ask why we have the honor to be in your presence Lady Demeter?" I chimed in and scooted closer to Sam to allow my face to be more visible in the portal.

Demeter turned her attention to me. Her brown eyes looking like they could melt ice. I bit my lip as I felt like a garden mouse ready to meet the business end of her scythe. The disapproving look on her face didn't disappear. "Ahh yes, you are indeed the boy from earlier. I was worried I might have called the wrong number. I am here to inform you that I have found a suitable task for you to perform."

Oh goody. I thought to myself. I straightened my posture and nodded my head. Slowly, I swallowed a deep breath and when I spoke my voice was surprisingly calm. "I am ready for whatever task you require of me Lady Demeter. Do you need me to help you with your shop?"

"No," She said at once and without an inkling of doubt. The bluntness of her words took me off guard. It was almost a little hurtful even as I sighed with relief. If I was going to pin my hopes on dating Katie on my gardening skill, then I doubt I would ever see her again. "I doubt you have the experiences with half of the plants I work with."

"You mean roses?"

For a moment, her eyes were replaced by green flames with writhed and lashed around like vines. "I work with some of the rarest and most powerful fauna known to this world, hundreds which haven't even been seen, much less used by mortals in more than two thousand years."

I noticed Katie looking at me. She looked like she was trying to swallow a quarter and was discreetly gesturing for me to stop talking. Sam was silently covering her face with her hand and shaking her head. "My most sincere apologies Lady Demeter. I meant no offense when I said that and you are right that I have no experience working with plants."

That seemed to mollify her at least for the moment. The severe look on her face faded somewhat making it easier to look at. "Then you understand that I have a different task in mind for you."

 _Please let it be just delivering some seeds to someone. Hell, I'd be fine if its shoveling manure._ I was crossing my fingers under the table.

"I require you to retrieve a golden apple for me." She said at last.

I blinked at her in surprise. I was thinking back to the myth that was in. It was one of Hercules labors and it involved a dragon and the Titan Atlas. "A golden apple Lady Demeter? As in like the ones from the Hesperides?"

"Is there any other?" She asked impatiently. Then the testiness of her voice abruptly vanished and she seemed rather uncomfortable. "Unfortunately it may not be as straightforward as that. My brother Zeus has received petitions by the Hesperides about too many demigods running around their forest. So now he has declared the place off limits for the next two decades."

"So how do you expect us to retrieve you a golden apple mother?" Katie asked. She seemed a bit confused, then a mischievous grin started to form on her face. "Unless of course, you plan for us to break the rules mother."

Demeter looked horrified and quickly shook her head. "If you were no my daughter I would turn you into a sunflower for suggesting something like that. And if I was there I would wash your mouth with soap. Of course, I intend to follow the rules to the letter. Which is why I want you to go after one that has already been taken from the garden."

"That still seems close to breaking the rules." Katie pressed, her smirk widening as she leaned in closer to the portal.

Demeter snorted and dismissed this concern with a wave of her hand. "How? This petition was made to keep demigods out of the Hesperides and you will not be anywhere near it. Besides, I doubt they would care about an apple that has already been taken."

 _Or they may want it back and we'd have to deal with them._ "Where might we find this apple Lady Demeter."

The Goddess snapped her fingers. Suddenly a flower pot appeared in the middle of the table. A little green bud started to push its way out of the soil. It uncurled and continued to rise up higher and higher. Within a few seconds, it had leaves popping out from its sides and spreading into branches. It was like watching a plant growing on fast forward. Finally, a pink and green flower started to bloom from the top, spreading into two layers of petals and a golden pistil in the center. Once it was finished blooming, the flower then started to tilt to the side as its stem bent like it was made of rubber. It pointed past them and towards the east.

"This flower will guide you to the Golden Apple," Demeter explained. "Wherever it points is the direction you must follow. Although I will tell you now, it will lead you to the lair of the enchantress Circe."

"That's in the Sea of Monsters," Sam remarked, glancing toward the east. Beyond Camp Half-Blood was Long Island Sound and then beyond was the Atlantic Ocean. "Didn't Percy and Annabeth say they found Circe's lair before?"

I nodded slowly, remembering their story. Circe's lair was in the form of a spa and resort. Judging by the gleam in Sam's eyes she remembered that part too. I also remembered that she turned all men who found themselves there into guinea pigs. The idea caused me to shudder slightly.

"If they have found then I can assure you that it is no longer there," Demeter said a matter-a-factly. "The Sea of Monsters is an ancient and unstable force, constantly shifting and changing. A place that was just a few miles off New York one day may be off the coast of China in the next. You will need this flower to guide you."

"Thank you mother, we are truly grateful for your help." Katie took the flower pot in her hands and moved closer to the portal. She bowed her head once again.

Demeter's face softened when she saw her. She looked as if she wanted to reach out and touch her. "You are welcome my dear, I wish Nathan the best of luck on his quest."

With that, the portal vanished in a swirl of mist. The arch of water vanished as the first clay pot had emptied itself. The three of us glanced at each other, silent now filling our table. The Naiad rolled up the sleeve of her shirt and looked at her watch. "Wow, ten minutes. Demeter's gonna be pissed when Iris sends her the bill."

* * *

"I can't believe you're actually going through with this." Katie Bonifacio remarked, turning around to face me. She continued to walk backward as she met my gaze."I mean, this is crazy and that's saying something coming from me."

Sam's arm shot up from behind me and flicked Katie's ear. "Hey don't say that it's for love and that's all I need to hear." She smiled solemnly to me. "Whatever you plan to do Nathan, I'm with you."

"Ya, I'd like to go with you but unfortunately I have stuff to do." Katie placed a sympathetic hand on my shoulder. She shrugged softly. "Sorry."

"Yes, I value our friendship as well." I muttered dryly. I couldn't really blame her too much though. It had only been a few weeks since they had returned from her own quest. She had to fly across the country to deal with a few holdouts still loyal to the Titans.

Katie placed a hand on her chest and faked an expression of hurt. She turned at her heel and started to walk once again. "Hey, I hoped you would have more faith in me Nathan. Come on of course I wanna help, especially since Chiron isn't letting you use their navy."

I bit his lip. It was true Chiron wasn't allowing them use of the navy or pegasi since it was an unofficial quest, All he offered them was some extra camp money and supplies would the best of luck. "What do you mean? Your telling me you have a ship?"

Katie didn't reply, instead reaching into the pocket of her hoodie. She pulled out a key and threw it towards me. "It's in Long Island sound, you'll know it when you see it."

I blinked in surprise as I looked down at the keys. I slowly started to clench my fist and placed the key in the pocket of my jeans. "How did you get this?"

"Well, I got an old second hand ship and the kids from the Hephaestus cabin were more than willing to help me fix it up."

Sam seemed to have a hard time comprehending this. She looked at Katie as if she had started speaking in a different language. "Katie, is your family rich?"

"We're comfortable." She admitted.

Sam leaned to me and whispered. "That's exactly what a rich person would say."

"Anyways," Katie said, changing the subject as we reached the Hermes Cabin. She pulled the door open and gestured dramatically for us to enter. The strong scent of dirty laundry suddenly emerged from the cabin. She gave us an apologetic smile. "Sorry about that, we haven't gotten the chance to clean yet. But come inside we have something to give you."

"Can't you just bring it out?" Sam complained as she covered her nose. When Katie just glared at her, she sighed and the two of us followed her inside. The Stoll brothers were waiting for us at the entrance, grinning broadly and looking quite pleased with themselves. That was never a good sign.

I started to get a sinking feeling in my chest and considered trying to leave, but the other Hermes kids started to join them in forming a half circle around us and I knew that there was no chance of escape with them. Instead, I sighed softly and watched to see what they would give. The two Stoll's moved towards the nearest bed and held up bundles of supplies; food, water, even three sets of bronze armor.

"We borrowed some stuff from the camp store, and armory." Travis explained.

Borrowed, right. I took one of the helmets offered to me and examined it. It was newly shined so I could see my own reflection from the bronze. I started to try it on and felt it fit me perfectly. I decided not to ask how they managed to get my size. I took the rest of their supplies in a special backpack that made by Leo that could store it all. "Thanks guys, really."

Katie playfully punched me on the shoulder. "Come on, it's for love and in my book that something worth all the trouble."

"Thanks Katie." I smiled back at her. The two of us clasped hands and shared a nod.

Sam took her own set. "I count three suits of armor, though so far only two of us are going on this thing."

Conor shook his head. "Count again, but maybe you should check out your new ship first."

Katie chuckled and started to push past her siblings. She headed to her desk and started to pull out a pen and paper out. Her siblings broke away and returned to whatever they were doing before. She returned to us and started to write something down on the paper. "Here I'll write it down for you."

* * *

Sam and I peered around the docks, searching through the ships crowding the harbor for Katie's promised transport. Sam glanced at the paper she gave with the written address once again and scratched her head in confusion. The two of them walked along the wooden pier, inspecting each ship they passed one by one. Katie didn't really give a description of what they were supposed look for aside from saying that "they'll know it when they see it."

"Are you sure this is the right place?" I asked as we got closer and closer to the edge of the pier.

Sam shot me an incredulous look. "Well this is the only place with ships. Now come on, it has to be here…somewhere." Her voice trailed off slowly as she started to look up from the map.

She started to point at the end of the pier. I frowned and looked past a particularly large yacht. A grin started to form on my face as I saw what was beyond. "Oh Katie, you magnificent bastard."

The ship wasn't large compared to the rest of the ships docked, barely room for twenty, but it was sleek and it looked fast. On its bow it had what appeared to be an autocannon while two smaller machine guns were mounted on either side. On the side of the shows hull, painted in clear white paint was her name, SEA BITCH.

"That's definitely Katie's," Sam smiled and set the map down. She climbed aboard and looked at the autocannon, or more accurately the sticky note attached to it.

 _The guns are loaded with bronze bullets, but the Hephaestus kids only managed to make a couple belts of it so use it carefully._

 _-Love, Katie :)_

I noticed a figure was standing inside the bridge, although the tinted glass made her a bit difficult to make out. She started to step out. "I guess that's our their."

From the bridge emerged Katie Gardner. She was dressed in an orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt, jeans and sneakers. Her hair was tied back into a bandana. My heart did a little back flip when I saw her. "Hey guys, welcome aboard."

Sam's grin broadened as she ran up and hugged her. "What are you doing here Katie?"

She shrugged and looked at my shyly. "Well my mother is making you go through all of this so I thought it was only fair that I lend a hand to you guys."

"Well it's great to have you here with me, I mean us." I replied, setting my bag down as I pulled her into a hug. Katie smiled and gently nuzzled her head against mine. "Now come on, lets get going."


	3. Chapter 3

**Nathan's POV**

Cold winds started to rise and blow up against the ship, buffeting me as I stood on the bow. I winced and to my hands of the guns triggers to pull my jacket tighter. Behind me, I heard footsteps clanking loudly against the metal floor. Sam appeared behind me and held up a headset. "Here," She said, propping it on my arm. She glanced at the gun and nodded. "If you're gonna fire that thing, then you better make sure your ears are protected."

"Thanks." I took the headset and started to place it on. Instantly, the roaring sea was muffled, but more impressively was that it also blocked out the _Sea Bitch_ engines which should have brought half the seas monster towards them. He was grateful to Katie for the ship, but the loud roaring and shrieking of the engines were driving him crazy. He was starting to understand why she named it the _Sea Bitch_.

"So how far do you think it is from Circe's island?" Sam asked, yawning slightly as she rubbed the last of the sleepiness from her eyes. She glanced towards the bridge of the ship where Katie handled the controls. The Daughter of Demeter noticed at them looking at them. She smiled and waved at them.

I felt the color raising at my cheeks as I shyly waved back. Sam chuckled and shook her head. She sat down on the ships bow beside me, her head just underneath the barrel of the gun. She let the tip of her sneakers trail against the water. "You do realize your gonna have to talk to her at some point. Like to ask her out."

"I know that," I said quickly and tried to keep my attention on the ocean ahead. "I'm just thinking about what to say."

Sam sighed slowly. "Nathan, how many times do I have to tell you. Don't think so much and just act. That's how love works. It's not supposed to make sense or be some sort of mission you can plan. It's just something you do."

"Well, that's not how I am," I replied firmly and chewed on my lip slowly. I glanced at Katie who turned her attention back to steering. A small part of me wanted to take her advice and just walk up to the bridge and talk to her.

Instead, I slowly stepped away from the turret and pulled my bow out. I waved it around to let her see it. I took an arrow out and notched it. "Well if you ask me, love is like archery."

"Archery?" She raised an eyebrow as she started to stand up. I helped her to her feet as she carefully ducked under the barrel of the gun.

I nodded and took aim at a stray rock protruding out from the ocean waves. "You don't just fire blindly at your enemy. You need to be careful and calculating if you wanna hit your mark. You need to test the wind direction first, keep your strength in check, and check your aim. It's only if you do that then you can hit the bullseye."

"Ya, right." She rolled her eyes and nodded. Sam looked around slowly and saw the empty mass of the sea. A frown started to form on her face. "Shouldn't we have hit something by now, or run into something?"

I stared at her in disbelief. "Are you seriously wishing that to be attacked by some monster?"

"Well not exactly, but you have to admit this place seems a bit too quiet." She remarked and looked around one last time.

"I'll go ask Katie," I promised her as I started to head out.

"I hope that, not the only thing you'll ask." She called out playfully and followed up with a soft giggle. I rolled my eyes and started to walk away. There was a small ladder which led right into the bridge. Katie glanced back at me and smiled softly.

"Morning Nathan." She said cheerfully and turned to face me. Even in the cramped bridge of the ship, she seemed at ease. It didn't hurt that Hephestus cabin made the controls magically powered which made the controls much easier to use.

"Morning Katie," I replied and stopped in front of a steel table. A large scroll had been laid out in front of it which covered the table nearly from end to end. I rested my hand on top of the parchment which suddenly began to glow a light purple color. I gasped in surprise, quickly pulling my hand away as the purple dot where my finger touched it didn't vanish. It actually started to spread out on two sides, as it reached the corner of the scroll, the lines both made a sharp turn and covered two more sides of it.

Katie noticed this as well and turned away from the windows. Unlike me though, she didn't seem bothered in the slighted and casually strode forward to the table. By now the lines had already met and created a purple border. In that border, the parchment began to change pictures into a map similar to those onboard an airplane. A blinking yellow figure in the shape of a ship appeared right in the middle of a sea of blue. It left a dotted line behind it and was moving towards a mass that was a darker shade of blue towards the edge of the table.

"Pretty cool huh?" Katie grinned as she leaned towards the scroll and ran her fingers across it, smoothing out some of the creases. "A new design by the Hephaestus cabin."

"So I'm guessing this is the Sea of Monsters?" I asked and pointed towards the dark blue area at the edge of the map. By the looks of it, we were already three-fourths of the way there. Whether that was a good or bad thing is still up for debate.

Katie nodded. "Though where exactly we'll enter is unknown. It's like what my mother said, the Sea of Monsters in an incredibly fickle thing. We may find ourselves in Circe's island right off the bat, or it could be on the other side of the sea."

I didn't like not knowing this information, though I prayed dearly to Apollo that it would be the former. After that the conversation seemed to flicker and die as I racked my brains to try and think of something to say. I relaxed on one of the chairs that was bolted down in front of a computer. I looked at it and absently stared at it even if I had no idea how most of it worked. Katie watched me and slowly started to turn back to the bow. I watched her and summoned my courage. "Thanks for coming by the way."

"It's no problem," She replied and placed her hands back on the controls. "Honestly it's the least I could do considering my mom's the cause of all this."

"Speaking of which, are you sure she'll be ok with you coming with us. I mean I'd hate to be turned into a sunflower." The thought of that caused me to shudder slightly.

Katie seemed amused at that and gave me a playful smirk. "Oh I wouldn't worry about my mom too much. She can be a bit much sometimes, but she could never say no to her little girl. How do you think my dad managed to stay with her long enough to make a baby?"

"If that was the case then we wouldn't be needing to go on a quest." I pointed out.

"Fair point." Katie conceded with a smile. She looked at the seas once again and smiled softly. She took a deep breath. "Besides, it's great to be back in the open sea again."

"Again?"

She nodded. "My dad runs a really successful flower shop in my hometown. He was one of the richest men there and managed to make enough to buy himself a fishing boat. Whenever he went on fishing trips he would take me and my sisters with him."

I started to smile as well, crossing my legs slowly. "That sounds a lot like fun."

"It was," She agreed. "We'd spend days out on his boat, cooking the fishes we just caught, relaxing on the beach and telling stories." Katie smiled and rested on the edge of the window and starting to relax. "Did your family ever do things like that?"

I shook my head. "Nah, my mom could never afford a boat or anything like that. Usually, we would just go out for some dinner once a week to talk."

"Well, that still sounds fun. I mean you get to spend time with your mom." She said just as the ship shuddered slightly. The vibrations were hard enough to knock me off my seat. Katie quickly regained her balance and looked around.

I quickly leaped to my feet and looked out the window. I searched around the front area of the ship for Sam. A surge of terror filled me as I couldn't find her right away. This lasted only a moment as a few seconds later she emerged from behind the autocannon. She looked a bit dazed but otherwise seemed alright.

"What was that?" I asked and made my way to Katie who fell to the ground.

I helped her to her feet and she nodded her thanks. The boat continued to rock back and forth, though not as much as earlier. Katie made her way towards the scanners and looked it over. As she did, the color drained from her face. "I'm not sure, but the radar is saying there are a dozen contacts right above us."

Before I could respond, I heard Sam scream from outside. Without thinking, I snatched up my bow and burst outside. There was a series of shrieks and a flutter of wings above me. I spun around and came face to face with a flurry of talons and feathers. Because of that, I barely saw the first harpy flying past the flock. It shrieked and had its talons extended out towards me.

I raised my bow at the last second. It's claws wrapped around the wooden shaft. I could hear the wood groaning under the pressure as the claws tightened. If this kept up I knew that the bow would snap in half so I batted the harpy away and reached for a dagger in my belt. The harpy shrieked and leaped at me again, but I was ready this time and drove my dagger into its eye.

The monster howled in pain as it disintegrated into dust. That was one down, though there were at least another dozen to go. I spotted Sam screaming as she wildly swung her shortsword against one of the harpies who dive bombed towards her. It raked her across the cheek, though she managed to land a glancing blow against its thigh.

The remaining harpies broke off the fight for a moment, giving us a bit of breathing room. They circled around the ship or propped themselves up on the roofs and various antennas. The harpies hissed and bared their sharp teeth as they looked ready to charge again.

Sam struck the harpy attacking her with the pommel of its sword, sending it tumbling into the water. It thrashed and kicked in the water as it tried to fly out. Sam made her way to my side and raised her sword. I notched an arrow into my boy and took aim as we stood back to back. Katie emerged from the bridge a few moments later. She was the only one who managed to don her armor, though she was still fumbling with her helmet. In her hand she clutched a bronze tipped spear.

The three of us stood together as the harpies continued to bay and shriek. They seemed to get more and more agitated by the second. It wouldn't be long before they decided to attack once again. I trailed one harpy that looked bigger than the flock. "I think you made them made Sam. Hey Katie, can you summon some help?"

"There's not not exactly a lot of material I could use." She said, incredulous as she held her spear up in the air, ready to skewer anything that got too close. Her face suddenly became curious as she looked away from the flock. "Although,"

"Cover me!" She shifted her position and thrust her spear into the water. She closed her eyes and began to chant. The two of us quickly moved behind her to shield her with our bodies. However, the harpies seemed just as confused as we were and didn't attack right away.

Katie raised her hands in the air and a forest of seaweed suddenly shot forward. The greens wrapped around the legs of two harpies who got too close and dragged them under. They didn't resurface, though two puddles of gold sand soon drifted upwards.

This broke the floodgate and the remaining harpies hissed in unison as they all dive bombed towards us. I loosed an arrow and managed to peg the big harpy. It crashed against the ships hull. I fumbled with another arrow and fired, though my fingers slipped and it only struck the shoulder of a harpy.

After that there was no more time to notch a third arrow and instead I drew my knife. Sam let out a battle cry as she looped off the leg of one of the monsters while Katie impaled a third. She barely managed to take in a breath before a harpy attacked her from behind. It dug its claws into her shoulders and caused her to scream out in pain.

My eyes widened in surprise as it started to lift her from the ground. My heart stopped for a second, then thundered like it was being pounded on a drum. I swatted another harpy aside with my bow and took aim. Sam moved behind me, slashing anything that got too close. I loosed an arrow that struck the creature right in its neck. The monster screamed and disintegrated on the spot.

It dropped Katie into the water, the daughter of Demeter vanishing into the blue ocean. I surged to the side of the ship, searching frantically for her. She soon emerged, standing on a wave of seaweed that carried her back. It dropped her right onto the deck and she picked up her fallen spear before pointing it defiantly at the enemy.

The harpies seemed to have realized that this wasn't an easy fight and started to retreat in all directions. I sighed with relief and let my bow drop beside me as I watched the remaining harpies flee. Both Katie and Sam let out a cheer as they flew away into the horizon. "We should follow them." Katie remarked.

"Why?" Sam asked.

"Those harpies have to land somewhere." She pointed and stared at once particularly large group of harpies were flying southeast. Among them was a was a golden feathered harpy that crowed at her remaining sisters. A new leader then. "If we follow them then we can find it."

I nodded in agreement and while Katie disappeared back into the ships bridge, I made my way back to the ships gun. Sam was at my side, sword in hand as she stood guard for anyone trying to sneak behind. Soon enough, the ship changed its course after the harpies and started to sail after them. It's engines cut through the waters, easily covering the distance that we lost to them.

Sam started to dig into the pocket of her jacket and pulled out a small baggie. I glanced back as best as I could and noticed it contained some small gold squares. She bit one in half and swallowed it. She offered me the remaining half. I shook my head and decline politely. I knew what Ambrosia could do to a demigod and he wasn't about to take the risk unless it was absolutely necessary.

They didn't have to sail for long though. In the distance a green speck soon materialized from the horizon. The harpies all squawked excitedly at one another when they saw it and quickened their pace. As the speck grew bigger and bigger, I could now see that it was an island, and a rather big at that. The island was covered in great forest trees to which the harpies vanished into.

Katie killed the ships engines about a quarter of the mile out. She dropped the anchor into the ocean and headed out. "The water is too shallow for us to dock. We'll need to use a smaller ship, unless you guys want to swim the rest of the way."

"I didn't bring my swimsuit." Sam replied as she glanced at the water and placed her sword back into its sheath. Fortunately for Sam, Katie had also placed three orange rubber boats for us to use. The three of us quickly donned their armor before climbing into one and starting the engine. The ship roared to life and began to sail them towards the island.

I notched an arrow and leaped out before we even reached the shore. The water went up to my knees and soaked my jeans, but I ignored the jolt caused by the cold water and wadded onto shore, my bow and arrow ready at anything that might come out to face us. The ship was beached a short distance away and the two girls walked onto shore with their weapons out.

Sam walked a short distance on the beach, frowning as she knelt down. Me and Katie looked at each other before jogging up to her. "Hey Sam, what did you find?"

In response, she pointed at a small depression in the sand. I leaned in closer to look at it, trying to get a look at the details on it. I felt a chill run down my body in spite of the tropical air. It was a footprint. One that looked like it was three times the size of my own foot. More of them were on the sand, forming a trail back into the forest.

"Lets, not go in there." Katie suggested and tightened her grip on her spear. I found myself nodding in agreement as the three of us backed away.

There was a loud rumbling from the forest followed by what sounded like a tornado ripping through the trees. Whole flocks of birds and harpies flew up in the air in panic. "Lets really not got there." Sam replied.

It was too late though, as whatever was causing that comotion seemed to get closer. The nearby trees shook and bent before whatever was there. The ground even started to shake as it approached. The three of us stepped back even further, shakily raising our weapons. A hand as large as a tree trunk thrust out of the underbrush and pushed its way out. I panicked and loosed an arrow at its palm.

The voice that cried out was husky, yet feminine. Before I could pull another one out from my quiver, the rest of the giant pushed itself free. My eyes widened as I looked up and up towards the giant. She was at least twelve feet tall and in a white greek style dress, though the nice clothes did little to hide her hideous features.

Her hair was a shaggy mane of untamed brown hair while her body was covered in tattoos of humans being roasted alive over a spit. Despite that, she opened her mouth into a wide smile that revealed an array of crooked teeth. "Hello there friends!" She boomed, causing the ground to shake around them.

The three of us huddled together and prepared to defend ourselves if she got any closer. The giant merely laughed and shook her head. "Oh no need to fear me little heroes, I was just here to gather food for my family's feast."

She held up a wicker basket and showed it to us. Inside it was filled with clams, berries and foods she gathered. Sam smiled politely and nodded. "Well that sounds very lovely and we would hate to interrupt. So we'll just leave you to it."

The three of us quickly started to shuffle past her. I lowered my bow and waved at her nervously. We were about to pass her when a hand slammed down in front of them. The giant glared up and them and looked at her basket. "Something is missing in here."

I gulped and had a sinking feeling in my chest as I knew what exactly she was missing. My hand drifted towards my quiver as I prepared to draw another arrow. I doubted I could get more than one shot out before the giant made her move so I would need to make it count. She snapped her fingers and her face lit up. "Oh of course, I'm missing guests!"

She bent down until her face was on our level and smiled. "Would you like to join me and my family for dinner? We're having clams."

The giant smiled and shook her basket around causing the shells to clatter around as she waited for our answer.


	4. Chapter 4

**Nathan's POV**

"Well?" The giant asked cheerfully, completely oblivious to our discomfort or the fact that we were reaching for our weapons. She simply watched us and tapped her foot absently, which was enough to send vibrations to the ground around us. Katie stumbled slightly and nearly fell over. I managed to catch her as she was about to fall and helped her upright. "What do you say?"

"Umm, would you be so kind as to give us a minute to discuss this?" Sam asked innocently and plastered a glamorous, if not somewhat forced smile on her face. "This offer is just a bit sudden."

The giantess threw her head back and laughed. The sound was something like an artillery piece firing. She nodded though and took a few steps back, a considerable distance from the three of our standards though. Once she stopped, the three of us quickly huddled together and I immediately said. "So we're not seriously gonna do this right?"

"Ya, go tell the giant that." Sam replied dryly and nudged her head towards the giantess. She grinned from ear to ear and waved happily. "See how cheerful she would be after you tell her that."

We turned back together. Katie frowned deeply as she pulled a dagger out. "So what do we do? I really doubt she'll take no for an answer. I also don't think that we could kill her."

"I think we should go for it." Sam remarked calmly.

Katie turned to her in surprise, doing a double take while I simply stared at her as if she had just changed into a rainbow pig. "Your joking right? You can't seriously think we should trust her and go have 'dinner' with her."

"I'm not saying that we trust her or anything," Sam assured the two of us and shook her head firmly. "What I mean is that we already know that she's up to no good, so she doesn't have the chance to get the jump on us."

Katie seemed intrigued by the idea and narrowed her eyes towards the giantess. "I suppose it could be possible, if we could take her off guard at least."

"It seems like too much of a risk. What if she's not alone." I said wearily and glanced over my shoulder. Laistrygonian giants weren't something I wanted to take any chances with. You said it yourself, we can't beat this giantess. How do you think we can beat more of them?"

I said the last part whilst looking at Katie. The Daughter of Demeter seemed torn as she looked in between the two of them. Sam wasn't so easily persuaded and slowly sheathed her sword a little bit from its scabbard, enough to show the glinting bronze blade. "But we might be able to get some information out of them about the Golden Apple. That flower thing might be able to point in the direction we need to, but does it doesn't really give us a lot of information about what we're facing."

"That makes sense." Katie admitted and glanced at us. "And we do need to be ready. I mean it's better that we go in prepared, both with the giants and the the Circe's island."

I looked back at the two of them and saw that there was no convincing Sam and Katie seemed to be on her side. Seeing myself outvote, I reluctantly raised my hands in defeat. "Alright, alright we let's do this."

With that done, the three of us turned around towards the giantess who was now sitting by the sand and started to break open clams to get the meat out. She quickly stood up, the clam meat still dangling from her lips as she wiped her face. Sam took a step forward and cupped her hands over her mouth and hollered out her. "Alright, we talked it over and decided that we can make it to lunch with you."

"Then let's get going. It might be a bit far for your tiny legs so you might want to get into my basket so I can carry you up there." She said and held out her basket in front of the three of us.

"That's very kind of you, but we're quite fine walking." I gave her the best smile I could muster and politely shook my head.

"Alright then, and you can call me Lil." The giantess seemed a bit disappointed with this, but didn't press the issue. Instead she slung her basket to her arm and began to and started to hum as she began to skip away towards the other side of the beach. This left the us in the dust, quite literally because as she left, she kicked up a miniature sand storm towards them.

The three of us coughed and waved our hands in the air, trying to keep the sand from our eyes and mouths. It took about a minute for the sand to clear and by then I could barely hear Lil's humming. When I spotted her, she was now about two hundred yards away. She slowly began to turn around and noticed how far beyond we were and started to wave for us to follow.

"Well, it looks like we have a bit of a walk." The two girls slowly turned and glared at me. Sand now coated their hair and clothes. Without another word, the three of us quickly started to jog after her.

The giantess turned around and started to move again. As they followed, the landscape began to change, from clear beaches and lush forests, it started to become rocky and barren, even the waves seemed to get rougher. Once, Lil even stopped and shrieked in pain as she clutched one foot. Underneath it was a rock about the size of my head. She plucked it out and threw it into the ocean. "Pebble," she muttered and watched as it skipped across the water and disappeared from sight.

By jog eventually turned into a sprint as Lil continued to keep a huge lead over us even with her casual pace. We could barely even keep her in sight. Thankfully she stopped in front of one of the larger cliffs and started to look up. The three of us practically fell onto the sand, our clothes now drenched in sweat.

"We're here!" She announced and stopped in front of a cliff side. The huge peak was made of black stone and went straight up in the air. Its sides were overrun with vines and other roots. Lil pointed to the very top.

I glanced up and felt my eyes widen at the sight before me. Built atop the cliff was a pavilion of white marble. It looked just like the dining pavilion in camp halfblood, but much more massive. Massive in the sense that everything seemed to be twice their original size. Even all the way down here I could tell. I also noticed several figures milling around, some poking from in between the columns and looking at down at us. Lil waited for us to catch up to her and grinned from ear to ear. "So what do you think?"

"Its um, very-." I began to say.

"It's gorgeous," Sam remarked, clutching her hands together and stared up at the pavilion in awe. Her eyes seemed to grow as big as saucers and sparkled at the sight of it.

Lil giggled and gently patted her head. "I'm glad you like it, me and my family made it ourselves."

"Well how do we get up there?" Katie asked and looked upward. It looked to be at least a hundred feet high ascent. "Is there like an elevator or something?"

"Elevator? Thats funny." Lil giggled softly and marched to the side of the cliff. We followed her there and my face fell as I saw her gesturing towards a set of stone stairs carved in the side of the cliffside. Each step seemed to be almost half my height, yet Lil had no problem climbing up.

"How are we supposed to get up there?" I asked in disbelief as I stared dau tingly at those steps. It would take them hours just to get up there. And would undoubtedly leave them too tired to face any of the giants waiting for them.

Sam sighed and started to make her way up to one of the steps and pressed her foot against it. She grunted and to push her way up the step. "Well, we better start climbing then."

"I don't thing that will be necessary." Katie shook her head and closed her eyes. She raised one hand towards the vines and hummed softly. The vines hanging from the cliff creeped to alive and began to lower themselves towards us. I let out a long whistle and watched as it descended towards us.

Katie smiled softly and lowered her arm as the vines continued their descent. "Come on everyone, step closer to the cliff."

By now, Lil was already halfway up the cliff and didn't even glance back once. The three of us took a step closer towards the cliff, the vines now just ten feet above us and closing quickly. The nearest one tied around Katie's waist and wrapped around again and again until it looked like she was wearing a green girdle. It tightened around her until she was securely fastened.

She gave the vine a few probing thrusts to make sure it was secure before snapping her fingers. The vine sprung to life and quickly began to retract upwards, pulling her up with it. A few more strands remained close with Katie as she ascended, probably to make sure she had extras in case the first vine snapped.

The same process was repeated on Sam who grinned softly and threw her hands in the air and let the vines wrap around her. When she turned to me her grin became cheeky. "It's just like those Manga comics I read."

I felt the color burn onto my cheeks as she laughed. "Sam, I know exactly what kind of Manga comics you read, please don't put that image in my head."

She simply laughed and winked at me. When the last vine was securely placed, the Daughter of Aphrodite leaned back and placed the back of her hand on her forehead dramatically. She pulled at the vine and let it hoist her up. With that, she disappeared up in the air.

"Come on Nathan, we don't have all day." I heard Katie call out from above. The last set stopped right in front of me and waited patiently. I reached out towards one of the vines reluctantly and held it tight. The rest went to work, tying themselves around my arms and waist before pulling up.

Instantly I felt my heart bounce off the floor and into my throat. My breath left my mouth as I forced my eyes shut. For a moment, fear took hold of me and I couldn't think of anything else. Slowly, I took a deep breath, then another before creeping my eyes open and looking around with fresh vision. Things didn't seem so bad this time, the ropes were tight enough that I didn't worry about falling and more hoovered beside me, ready.

Soon enough, the three of us reached the top of the cliff. I dug my foot onto the rocks to find a firm grip on it before reaching out with my arms to begin pulling myself up from the ground. The vines helped me pull along with Katie who was now at the top. They helped me as well and climbed to my feet.

We dusted the dust off our clothes and looked around. We stood in between two of the pillars and beyond that was a picnic table and an entire buffet of food ready for us. A dull red charcoal grill was also placed there with some smoke still rising from it.

When I took a step closer, a shadow loomed over us and I blinked once as I slowly began to look up and saw a Laistrygonian Giant staring down at us. He wore a greasy pair of blue overalls and held a cooking prong in his hands. He glared down at us, baring his teeth which were sharpened into points.

Careful not to make any sudden movements, I reached for an arrow in my quiver and prepared to fight. I doubt I would have enough time to notch, I would probably be able to stab his foot or something. Hopefully Sam and Katie can finish him off. The giant chuckled softly and tightened his grip around the prongs, daring us to make the first move.

Before any of us could move though, a hard voice cut through the tension and cause the giant to turn around. The voice spoke with a heavy southern accent thick with parental disapproval. "Junior, are you messing with our new guests?"

The giant glanced towards the direction of the voice and cringed slightly. He loosened his grip of his prongs and hung his head slowly. "No, pa."

There was a soft rumbling sound in the dirt and soon another giant appeared behind Junior. This one was somehow bigger, at least a foot taller and just as wide. He was dressed like a cowboy, with a brown leather vest, jeans and a cowboy hat. He was chewing on some wheat in his mouth and gave the smaller giant a quick cuff to the head.

Junior took the blow with barely a wink and started to trudge off, sullenly muttering to himself under his breath. The bigger giant watched him go with a stern look, but once he was gone he turned to us with an apologetic grin and kneeled down to get a closer look at us. "Sorry about my son. Junior ain't too good with strangers."

"Its alright I suppose." Katie replied and smiled back wearily. I didn't let go of my arrow just yet as I felt his breath wash over me. It stank of onions and raw meat and nearly caused me to gag out.

The giant nodded and extended his hand out, each finger was larger than my arm. "Howdy there partner, I'm Papa Joe, you must be the guests my Lil said she was bringing."

"It appears we are." I said, quiet enough that they couldn't hear it. He shook his hand though and the giant let out a laugh. He placed a hand on our backs and gently started to herd them towards the table. The other giants had now gathered to see them. There were six of them in all counting Papa Joe and all were dressed more like people living in suburban Houston rather than an ancient pavilion. Lil was already seated by the table and grinned brightly at us.

Slowly the other giants started to introduce themselves. Aside from Junior and Papa Joe, there was her mother, an uncle and another brother. Each one of them had started to sit down around the table as the last of the food was placed.

"Hello there." Sam greeted them in return and gave them a grin. She walked up to the side of the table and leaned on it. The very top of her head just barely made it over the top. "I'm Sam and this is my friend Katie and Nathan."

Papa Joe nodded and gestured for us to join them on the table. There were a few smaller chairs brought out for them to sit. As they eased themselves on it, Lil's uncle and her two brothers lifted us up and placed them on a few elevated chairs that allowed them to reach the table. Junior was the one who lifted my chair and glared at me hatefully.

Once we were seated, I finally got a good look at the food spread out before us. The meal looked like a classic barbecue with platters full of steaks that were large enough to come from elephants, burgers that were still sizzling and sent up small clouds of steam in the air and even a turkey three times bigger than a normal one along with bowls of coleslaw and mashed potatoes. I took a deep breath and let the scent of the foot fill my nostrils. Along with the normal smokey smell that was expected, there was also a strangely sweet aroma mixed in with it.

It smelled almost like freshly picked flowers and as I got a whiff of it, I felt a smile start to form on my face. I eased back onto the chair and let Lil's mom begin to drop a huge glob of mashed potatoes onto my plate. Katie and Sam were equally pleased and waited eagerly for their food.

"So where are you folks from?" Papa Joe asked, picking up a steak knife and started to slice through one of the steaks. "I don't think I've ever seen you from these parts?"

"Well, we've actually just docked here." Sam admitted and took a spoonful of coleslaw into her mouth and wiped her chin. "We were just trying to resupply our ship before heading on our way."

"Oh? Not many heroes bother to pass by here these days?" Papa Joe asked, jabbing his knife onto a slab of the steak and stuffing it into his mouth. "Where are y'all headed?"

"Circe's island." I replied, spooning more of the mashed potatoes into my mouth and washed it down with some water from a brass goblet. Each bite seemed to cause my troubles to vanish away. I looked over the platter for juiciest steak I could find. Just looking at it I could tell that I was too big for me so I ended up sharing with Katie.

"Well there's somethin' you don't hear everyday." Lil's younger brother remarked. His face was smeared with barbecue sauce when he took a bite out of his burger. He wiped his lips with the back of his hand. His eyes never left Sam as as he said that.

"Oh Pete use a napkin." His mother scolded softly as she turned towards him and began to wipe his face with her own napkin.

"He ain't wrong though, only the really brave visit Circe these days." Junior growled, taking a big bite from his steak and looking down at them. A soft chuckle escaped his lips as he washed it down with some water. "Or the real stupid. Which one are you?"

"Well, I'm smart enough to know which one you are." I said, straightening my posture which added about half an inch to close the several foot height difference.

Katie gently elbowed me and shot me a glare. Papa Joe scratched his chin though and frowned. "So what are you kids gonna do in Circe's island? Sounds like a mighty dangerous place."

I opened my mouth and prepared to explain to them my story, but Katie suddenly pushed a fork full of mashed potatoes into my mouth and smiled at the giants. This caused a chuckle to go through the six of them at my expense. I blushed slightly as Katie cleared her throat. "Umm that something classified."

This seemed to only amuse the giants. Mama giggled softly. "Oh you heroes and your quests. Well if you can't tell us then at least let us help you. Why don't you kids stay over for the night? We can send you off tomorrow with some food and other provisions."

That sounded like an amazing idea. I wanted to saw, judging my Sam's reaction she also seemed to agree. Katie on the other hand seemed unsure. She swallowed a bit of the steak and frowned slightly. Mama noticed her unhappiness and furrowed her brow. "Is something wrong with my cooking miss Katie?"

She looked up and stared at the giant. Katie seemed to check if she had angered the giantess, but instead she looked hurt. The Daughter of Demeter quickly shook her head and smiled reassuringly. "Oh no it's nothing like that. I just don't like my steak rare."

This brought the giant smile back on the giantess's face. She nodded and started to hand her another one. This one was smaller and more cooked than the last. "Oh of course, here's a better one for you deary."

"Thank you miss," Katie nodded her thanks and began to cut it. She started to cut into this one and leaned in to sniff the steak once she sliced through it and took the smell. Katie took a small bit from it and nodded in approval. "Yup, this is much better."

This seemed to mollify the giantess who went back to eating. Katie took a few more bites before excusing herself to use the restroom. As she left, Katie grabbed by by the front of my shirt and started to pull me away without so much as an explanation. I gasped in protest and stared at her for an explanation but she kept dragging me away.

"Well I know what those two are up to." Junior quipped and glanced at them. Lil and their uncle gave a chortle while Mama and Papa Joe looked on disapprovingly. Pete for his part scooted over to Sam with a grin as he wrapped his arm around her as best he could.

Sam glanced back, staring at us pleadingly, begging us not to go even as Katie continued to pull me away. She dragged me behind two large rocks and released me.

"What the heck was all that about?" I demanded and smoothed out the front of my shirt and stared at her in confusion.

She didn't reply right away and instead started to stand on her tiptoes to get a look over the boulder. I glanced by the side, caring far less about staying hidden and saw the giants had gone back to their meal. None even batting an eyelash as we left. Pete even seemed to be enjoying it as he leaned in closer with Sam and seemed to be trying to flirt with her.

After a few more seconds of looking at them, Katie turned around and started to crouch down. I looked at her indignantly, waiting for her to explain what was going on. Even I was surprised at how angry I felt at her, especially given that these were giants, but we were their guests and she is being very rude to them.

"What do you think your doing Nathan?" She hissed angrily and glared at me.

For a moment I was taken off guard by the anger in her voice. She looked at bit like her mother in that regard as she tapped her foot impatiently and waited for my answer. This only made me angrier as I glared back. "Me? You're the one who's making a big scene out there?"

"And you're the one who didn't even want to go here with them." Katie threw right back at me. Her hands were clenched into fists.

"Well, maybe I was wrong about them. They've been nothing but helpful to us so far."

Katie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She opened one of her hands and revealed a bit of the steak we were eating, juice coating her hands. She held it up to my face. "Smell this and tell me if it smells a bit odd to you?"

I leaned forward and gave it a snuff then shrugged dismissively. It smelled just like the other ones before, smokey with a hint if sweetness. "It's just like all the others."

"Exactly," Katie said and threw it away. "What steak have you ever had before that smells like that?"

When I didn't answer right away she continued to press the issue. "These steaks are laced with locust flowers."

"Locust flowers?" I raised an eyebrow and looked at her. That name rang a bell somewhere but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Those are the same flowers used in the land of the Lotus eaters." Katie explained, throwing her hands up in the air. When I continued to stare at her blankly, she sighed slowly and pinched the bridge of her nose. "They tried to trap Odysseus on their island with their addicting flowers which is what these giants are trying to do to us!"

Those words rang some chords on my body. The rational part of my head wanted to not in agreement and understand this, but most of it just wanted to lie down and relax. Besides, they had been so nice to us up to this point. "Katie, this is a bold accusation."

I rubbed the side of my temples and groaned slightly. All this talk of lotuses and giants were starting to give me a headache. I groaned and sat down on the side of the rock. Katie looked at me pleadingly and started to chant as she knelt down to the ground. A vine started to push its way out from underneath the boulder and snaked upwards. Its tip opened up and revealed a bright blue flower.

Katie took this and started to break apart the flower, plucking the petals away and took one in her mouth, chewing slowly as she handed another one to me. "Eat this," she instructed as she swallowed the petal.

I took the petal in my hands and looked at it. I felt oddly reluctant to actually eat it and simply stared down at it. I knew it was probably safe to eat it, yet for some reason I couldn't bring myself to actually take it. Sensing my uncertainty, she rolled her eyes. "Sorry about this Nathan."

Without warning, she brought her foot stomping down onto mine. I screamed in pain and she shoved a petal into my mouth and forced it shut before I could spit it out. She used two fingers to clamp down on my lips and held it tight. Sensing no other option, I began to chew it and grind the petals between my teeth. As I did, my head started to clear lime a fog being lifted in my head.

My thoughts came flooding back in an instant and for the first time I realized where we were. A hundred questions popped into my head all at once. What the heck do we do? How are we going to escape. Most importantly, where was Sam. Katie continued to watch me uncertainty, her fingers flexing against her sword hilt as she approached me, unsure of the flower worked.

I raised my hands up and nodded. "It's alright, I'm good. I'm good." I assured her.

Katie breathed a sigh of relief and let her sword slide back into its hilt. She plucked the remaining petals from the flower and started to walk up to me. She gave me a pat on the back. "Glad to have you back, now let's get Sam out of here before that giant makes a move on her."

With that, the two of us started to make our way back down the dining pavilion. By the time we got back, the Pete had practically stuffed mashed potatoes into her mouth and was nearly sobbing with relief when we got back. Papa Joe grin ed at us and waved us over. "Took you fallas long enough, now come on. Mama's about to bring over dessert."

The two of us exchanged looks and I patted my belly, pretending to be stuffed. "Oh I wish I could, but I don't think I could eat another bite."

Katie quickly mirrored the gesture and looked at him apologetically. The smile died on his face in an instant as he looked down at us. His eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion. "Are you two sure?"

When we nodded our heads. Lil's uncle cleared his throat and looked at us. He seemed more focused than the rest and regarded us thoughtfully. When he apoke his voice was gravelly and firm. "I'll tell you now that my sisters cake is to die for. Now I reckon that both of you would hate having to miss a slice of her world famous lava cake."

"I'd want a piece of that." Sam nodded her head eagerly and gripped her fork and knife eagerly.

"You won't be disappointed," Lil said, leaning towards her and grinned. Unlike Pete, she seemed fine with her presence. "It's won blue ribbon in two different county fairs, and maybe after we're done I can broad your hair."

Pete shook his head and ran his thick hand across Sam's locks. Judging by the wince repeatedly spasming across her face, he clearly wasn't good at being gentle. "Nonsense, her hair is pretty."

"Now I'm sure that this cake must be delicious." Katie said evenly, making sure to look at each of them in the eye as she spoke to show she had nothing to hide. Her voice hesitated for a second as she didn't know what to say after. She suddenly pulled me by my waist towards her and smiled. "But me and Nathan are on special diets so we can't have any."

"Y-ya, you know how girlfriends are. They never let you have what you like." I replied, quickly catching on to what she was getting at. Katie spared me a quick glance that promised painful retribution but nodded her head.

"Amen to that." Papa Joe chuckled and raised his mug. Mama came up behind him and gave him a quick swat to the back of his ear after she set the platter down with a lava cake the size of a small boulder.

This wasn't enough to convince uncle though who simply watched the two of us with a cold glare. Junior stepped beside us, a steak knife in one hand and the cooking prongs in the other. His sharpened teeth were exposed in a terrifying grin that made it clear what I had in mind.

"Are you sure there's nothing that we can say that will convince you to take a bite out of this here cake?" He asked, holding a cake cutter in his hands as he pointed it down towards the pasty.

"No sir."

He squared his jaw. "Well that's unfortunate to hear. Junior, do your thing."

The giant boy grinned and hefted his prong and brought it down towards us. Katie was ready for it though and somersaulted out of the way as the prong struck where her head had been a moment before. It caused sparks to fly as it slashed across the stone ground.

She whirled around and slowly started to raise her hands over her head. A gust of wind blew towards her, sending her hair flying in all directions as she took a step forward. Junior was too surprised to do anything, at least for the moment. He took a step back and watched her, but slowly his anger won out as it replaced the quick lapse of fear in his eyes.

A small growl escaped his lips as he raised his prong and prepared to skewer her. As it descended though, a patch of vines sprouted up in front of Katie and tangled the twin blades into their foliage. Junior growled and tried to slash at them with his knife. It bit through a few of the vines, but more quickly sprouted up towards his arm and wrapped around him.

He gasped as it started to lift him off the ground. The other giants were already on their feet and shouting in surprise. Not even bothering to aim, I reached into my quiver and pulled out an arrow which I jabbed into Pete's side.

The giant screamed in pain as Sam quickly threw his arm off of her and lunged to our side. She pulled her sword out as the rest of the giants stared at us, all the welcome gone as they watched with murderous intent.


	5. Chapter 5

**Nathan's POV**

"GAHHH, let me go, you little bitch!" Junior roared and thrashed around, his legs kicking wildly in the air as he now rose three feet off the ground. He grunted and tried to slash his way free with his knife, but his arm was held firm by the vines.

I bristled at his words and notched an arrow. I took aim at him, particularly at his fast lips to see if he would still be so loud-mouthed after I shot it right through with an arrow. Sam appeared at my side and had her sword out, looking her head back and forth as Papa Joe and Lil's uncle formed a semi-circle around us. They had picked up knives or cooking prongs.

Pete was just starting to get up, groaning softly while Mama was moaning about her lunch, but like the rest of them, all glared at us. Well, all except Lil who looked around nervously and nibbled her nails as she watched with growing terror.

"Take one more and your son dies." Despite the lump of fear gripping my chest, I took a step forward towards Junior and met Papa Joe's eyes and raised an eyebrow, as if daring him to make a move.

"Now, now let's not do anything hasty." Lil's uncle said diplomatically. He took a step forward and raised his arms up in front of them. Had he not been carrying a razor-sharp cooking prong in his hands.

"I could tell you the same thing," I replied, not taking my eyes off Papa Joe as the others started to back away further. The Giants didn't advance any farther, but I could practically see the tension in them, the strain of them trying to keep themselves back. They were like hunting dogs waiting to be released from their leash. He wasn't sure how much he could keep them back though. "Now lower your weapons or he dies."

Papa Joe bared his teeth into a hiss. It sounded something like a wild beast trying to frighten its prey. It was partially successful as I felt a quick jolt in fear. I tried to keep my fear from showing and pulled my bowstring taut. "Wanna find out?"

"Woah!" His brother-in-law shook his head and pushed himself between them. The sudden gesture took me off guard as I nearly fired at him. "Please, let's talk about this. Are you really willing to kill an innocent like that?"

The word nearly brought a laugh out of me. By now Junior had stopped struggling and simply dangled in the glare. This did little to stop his mouth though as he continued to curse and snap at us. I ignored him and snapped right back at the older giant. "Innocent? He was planning to eat us like the rest of you."

"Ok so the thought of us eating you might have crossed our minds," The uncle conceded and shook his head. "but we're still thinking beings and we can be reasoned with."

I lowered my bow a fraction and looked at him. "I'm listening."

He nodded. "Release junior and we'll forget all of this ever happened. We'll even give you some food for your journey."

"And what reason do we have to trust you?" Katie spoke up and glared right up at the bigger giant. She slowly unclenched her fist and the vines holding junior loosened somewhat, though not by much. By now we were back past the pillars and towards the cliffside. We stopped moving and started to hold our ground.

The uncle thought for a moment and tapped his chin with the tip of his prong. "I'm not sure how to answer that, but its the only way we can get past this impasse."

I was about to give him a response, to tell them to lower their weapons and gives us the food before we do anything, but cry to my left tore my attention away from them. Junior stumbled off the vines which were now messily chopped up. He crashed onto the table with enough force to crack it under his weight.

The uncle turned back to us in surprise, but then a sinister smile slowly formed on his face as he let out a throaty bellow and prepared to charge. This time I didn't hesitate, I let an arrow loose in his direction. The giant froze as his eyes widened, watching as the arrow sailed harmlessly past him and towards the lava cake behind him. It buried itself halfway into it and started to cause it to bubble.

His surprise lasted only a second as he quickly charged straight towards them. Sam shoved me behind her as she raised a bronze shield over our heads to block his first attack. The ends of the prongs glanced along the base of the shield and was deflected away. However, it did cause her arm to buckle slightly from the attack.

Katie joined us and had her spear ready, thrusting it out towards the giant to try and keep him back. The rest of his family quickly in, moving in opposite directions as they tried to box the three of us in. It would only be a few moments before we would be overwhelmed by their attacks.

However, those attacks never came as I looked towards my arrow. By now the cake had started to expand to almost three times its size. It also grew more unstable as its shape constantly shifted and morphed, looking like a cell ready to split apart. A large bubble started to form on the top and I quickly pulled Katie under the shield.

A moment later the lava cake burst, sending liquid chocolate everywhere. The giants screams were the only things to hit them now as they were blasted with heated chocolate. It struck the shield with enough force to knock Sam back a step. She lowered her shield though and shook it off. Where the lava cake was a moment before, was now a smoking platter.

"Nows our chance." I said, waving them to follow me as I started to slip away to the right. I could sense their footsteps behind me even if I didn't look back and it drove me forward. Mama was there, screaming and stomping her feet as her face was covered with chocolate. She was too busy trying to wipe her eyes to notice us sliding under her legs.

"How did you do that with the cake?" Sam questioned as more footsteps started to sound. This time I was fairly sure it wasn't the girls. I whirled around and notched another arrow. The girls ran past me towards the path from the pavilion. Taking only a moment to aim before letting loose. A pained roar was all the confirmation I needed and started to jog after them.

Despite everything, a smug grin formed on my face. "An explosive tool, arrowhead tipped with a little black powder."

"Well do you have one that can help us get out of here? I doubt we could outrun those giants even with a head start." She commented as we reached the end of the pavilion.

I bit my lip and quickly racked my brain for any ideas. In truth running down all the way to the ship was about all I had. Thankfully Katie came to my rescue and spoke up. "I have an idea, follow me."

With those words, she took off to the side of the road and left us in the dust. Sam and I struggled to catch up with her as she headed towards the staircase, though she stopped short of the first step. She turned around towards me. "Nathan, mind giving us some cover?"

I nodded and selected another arrow from my quiver. Instead of an arrowhead, it had a rounded black bag. I fired it onto the ground just as the giants appeared from the corner. As it struck the ground, smoke burst out and filled the air. The giants gasped and coughed as the smoke bomb hit them with full force. I fired two more regular arrows for good measure before turning around to them. "So what's your plan?"

"We jump." Katie said bluntly.

"What?" Sam and I screamed in unison, glancing over the edge. It was still a hundred foot drop at least. "Are you insane?"

"I'll use the vines to grab us as we fall, be we need to go quickly." Katie insisted. "Think of it as bungee jumping."

This seemed to be enough for Sam as she joined Katie's side, but I shook my head and glanced over the edge once again. "Bungee jumping is normally supposed to have a cord attached to you."

When I didn't get a response I glanced to the side and saw both of them weren't standing beside me anymore and had already jumped off. Cursing to myself, I closed my eyes and followed after them. A second later I felt something latch onto my waist and hold me firm. For a dreadful second, I thought that I hesitated too long and it was one of the giants pulling me back up, but the wind continued to buffet my face which meant I was still falling. kept descending.

Slowly, I opened my eyes and saw the green vines wound tightly around my waist. About ten feet ahead of me were the girls with identical plans holding them firm and slowing their fall as we made our way to the ground. Behind us I could hear the giants snarling in anger and quickly decided not to look back.

Soon enough I felt my feet sink into the soft sand. I didn't even wait for the vines to fully uncoil before sprinting after the girls with a single coil still wrapped around my waist. I dragged it behind me for a few feet before feeling it snap taut and nearly pull me off my feet. I stumbled back a step and regained my balance to look around. A boulder had appeared out of nowhere and crushed the vine in the spot where I had landed a moment before.

I gulped loudly and glanced up. Mama was at the top of the cliff, roaring and holding a boulder the size of sofa over her head. Suddenly my legs were filled with new energy as I wanted to be as far away from her throwing range as possible. Beside her was Lil with an apologetic look on her face. "Sorry about ma family, come back soon ya hear." She called after us.

The rest of her family was scrambling down the steps, hurrying after us. Oddly enough I didn't see Lil's uncle amongst them. Even Junior was there, screaming bloody murder as he held his steak knife in his hands. Another boulder fell just ten feet away from me.

Before long I had already outpaced the girls. My new energy didn't last too long though as my legs were soon screaming at me for rest, but I didn't entertain them, not when could still hear those giants behind me. Sam seemed to be having the worst of it as she was lugging that bronze shield in her arm. She panted like a race horse, starting to fall behind Katie.

Meanwhile the Daughter of Demeter was thrusting her arms back, desperately throwing what little plant life there was at the giants; washed up seaweed or s few stray weeds. I doubt it was even worth the energy to try and control them, but my lips felt too dry to actually form the words.

I stumbled on a sand dune and toppled over, feeling sand managed to get into my clothes and shoes. Part of my body begged me to stop, to just lie down there and take a breather even as it was nearly drown out by another boulder landing to my right. Maybe I could bury myself in the sand and hide until the giants passed. Then I could find the others somehow once they gave up the chase. I quickly shook that thought away. _With my luck I'd probably get flattened by accident._

That whole train of thought lasted about five seconds in all, but when I glanced around I saw the giants were now only a few hundred yards away and closing fast. Junior was at the head of the back, grinning and waving his knife around. I picked myself up and started to sprint on, feeling my legs pump underneath me as I continued to run.

By my guess we were already about two thirds of the way there. Come on just a little bit longer.

The Sea Bitch was already in sight, just where we left it. The rubber boat was also he still there as well, moored onto a small rock. I wanted to cry out with relief as I saw it there. Katie was the closest one there, leaping into the boat from a few feet away and quickly powering up the engine. The loudhum drowned out the screams of the giants. Slowly, she began to pull the boat back to the water and sped to my direction.

I staggered to the left, feeling water soak into my sneakers, but I ignored it and started to wade in deeper as the boat closed in on us. Sam leaned to the side off it and extended her hand out. I clumsily pushed myself forward against the current and thrust my own hand out. The giants were now closing in fast, Junior's teeth flashing as he approached. I could already smell the barbecue sauce on his clothes as he lunged at us with his knife.

The boat was also right on top of me, Sam shouting frantically for me to try and grab her hand. Almost in unison, the two of us made a grab for one another. By some miracle, our hands connected and she pulled back with all her strength. Our combined momentum shoved her back into the boat where she fell in. Seeing us both safely inside, Katie shoved the steering wheel in one direction.

The boat did a 180 degree turn, sending a wave of water crashing into Junior's face as we did before jetting off. The Sea Bitch as still thankfully where we left it, anchored and waiting for us. Its gaudy name plate was a welcome sight to me, almost as welcome as its machine guns. I helped Sam to her feet and slumped against the side of the ship.

I let out a sigh of relief and dropped my bow to my side. Sam chuckled as well and unstrapped her shield, letting it roll against the small deck before hitting the back of Katie's seat. Katie continued to pilot the ship forward, her eyes looking at the boat mirror before turning pale. "Guys, I don't think you should be lowering your weapons just yet."

A look of confusion crossed my face as I looked at her, but as I turned around I felt it change to terror. Right behind us was Junior, swimming right after us. His knife was clenched between his teeth and his eyes were now red from the seawater and burned with murderous intent. I opened my mouth and a faint kenning sound came out. Sam though had the words for me and screamed indignantly. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"Hang on you guys." Katie said and pushed the boat to full throttle. The boat sped forward but it did nothing to stop the giant. I looked around for the rest of his family and saw most of them by the beach, roaring and picking rocks. The only one missing now was Lil and her uncle oddly enough.

I was about to scream for them to take evasive action as the rocks started to get thrown, but thankfully it seemed we were out of even their range as most missed by thirty or even forty feet. It was a small victory, but one I appreciated nonetheless.

Katie pulled the boat came to a stop beside the Sea Bitch. Thankfully she wasn't very tall and it took a short climb up to reach the Sea Bitch bow. I helped Sam up first while Katie continued to churn water in Junior's direction to try and slow him down. Once Sam was up, she held her arms out to pull me.

I didn't grab it though and glanced back. Junior was now only ten feet away and swimming straight towards us. The water being tossed up doing little to slow him. I grabbed Katie as she continued to try and power the engine up some more. "Forget about, just get up there."

She nodded and took Sam's outstretched hands. I fired another arrow towards Junior to try and force him back. The shaft buried itself into his shoulders and he hissed in pain, but he still forced himself forward. Cursing, I glanced back and saw Katie already abroad. They both reached out to pull me up. I took their hands and pulled myself up. Both girls growled and strained with the effort. Junior was now five feet away. He reached up and snapped the arrow off.

I dug my feet into the side of the Sea Bitch and started to climb as well, pushing myself up. With one big tug, both girls managed to drag me the rest of the way just as the giant slammed into the side of the boat, sending us spinning even with the anchor still in the water.

The whole boat shuddered from the force, but somehow I managed to keep my feet beneath me and started to crawl forward, making my way towards the bow of the ship were the machine gun shook slightly. Sam kicked her legs against the ground, trying to push her way back from that side of the ship and towards the control.

As I reached the heavy weapon, a hand reached from the water and grabbed at the ship's railing. The steel railing didn't stand a chance and bent under the weight of the hand. It started to pull itself up and Junior appeared before them. He spat out his knife and glared at them hatefully. "You killed my uncle and ruined my lunch, I'm gonna make you pay."

He used one hand to wipe the water from his eyes as he probbed around the deck of the ship for his knife. Instead he managed to grab onto Katie's leg as she tried to crawl away. She screamed as the hand pulled her back and dangled her upside down in the air. Junior managed to get water out of his eyes and inspected his catch. He shrugged his big shoulders and raised her over his head. "Close enough I suppose."

With his other hand he picked up his knife and smiled, bringing the blade close to her slender neck. The knife looked like it would be able to take her head off in one blow. A sudden rage boiled over from the bit of my stomach as I leapt over to the weapon and turned the turret to face Junior. "Hey asshole!"

The giant turned me me, his eyes widening as he came face to face with a barrel of 50. Cal death. Katie also saw this and her eyes bulged out, but she quickly understood and jerked her body forward so she could bite the fingers of the giant holding her back. Junior yelped in surprise as he let go of her leg.

Katie tumbled from his hand, screaming as she started to fall. She fell to the ground with a loud thud. A stab of fear lanced through my chest as I saw this, but I pushed those thoughts aside for now. There was time for fear later, now it was time to deal with the giant first. I flicked the safeties off the gun and pulled the triggers.

Bullets exploded from the barrel, bronze streaks flying towards them. Junior's body danced wildly as he was riddled with bullets. I only stopped firing once more than four dozen holes in him. Sam must have noticed this as she turned the ship to the side, sending Junior tumbling off the broken railing and into the water. His body had already started to dissolve as he did and when he hit the water, most of him was now just dust. In the water it looked like some sort of evil drink mix.

"You bastards!" I could hear Papa Joe shouting from the shore. "You killed my son and brother. I don't ever wanna see you back in these parts ya hear? If you come back here I'll roast you alive."

With those threats in the air, our ship quickly started to sped ahead.

* * *

"Here, over here." Sam said as she pulled the door of one of the ships quarters and held it open for me. I nodded and descended down the stairs after her, cradling Katie in my arms as I held her bridal style. I quickly passed through, careful to make sure her head didn't bump against the doorway.

The inside of the room was pretty sparse, with the only furnishings being a bed, desk and a computer. There was also an air conditioner which Sam powered up as I set Katie down on the bed and started to remove her sneakers. She groaned and murmured weakly as she shifted around the bed slightly. A gust of cold wind from the air conditioner sent her shivering. Sam also picked up a blanket and handed it to me.

I nodded my thanks and started to drape it over her, making sure she was snug and warm. I ran a hand across her head, feeling a slight bump from where she fell and hit the deck. I pushed the locks of hair aside to get a look at the injury. It was a rather big and a dark purple color. That was hardly good at all. "Thank you Sam."

"It's no problem, now I'll head to controls and get us moving." She said idly.

"The flower is in my room if you want to get it." I said, trying to sound casual. However, inside I wanted to do nothing but hug her right then and there. I knew it was just an excuse to give me some time alone with Katie.

I waited until I heard the door shut behind her before sighing with relief. Slowly, I laid my hands on her head, focusing on the bump as I began to utter a hymn I knew. It was one of Apollo's many singles, but one that had healing properties. Even as I sang it, my hands began to glow a soft gold tinge, as if they had become miniature lanterns. As I ran them across her head, I could feel the swelling begin to slow and ease.

I gently cupped the bump and murmured a prayer to Apollo, asking him for the guidance and help to heal her. With the ritual done I pulled my hands away. By then Katie was starting to stir, groaning softly as she shifted again, moving from her side to her back. Her eyes weakly fluttered open a moment layer and she craned her head from side to side. I managed a weak smile. "Welcome back."

"Thanks," She tried to sit up, wincing in pain as one hand moved up to rub her head. "Gods what happened?"

I gave her the short version and ran down how she was attacked by Junior on the ship. When I finished, Katie was silent and slumped against the wall, her feet dangling against the table. She stared at me for a moment. "Holy Zeus, you saved my life Nathan."

I felt the color creeping up to my cheeks as I shrugged meekly. "It was nothing, I'm sure you would have done the same for me."

In response, she snorted and a bit of good humor returned to her as a small smile danced across her lips. The first one in hours. "Ya, right. Like I could have possibly done a healing spell like that."

"You would have thought of something," I insisted. "Maybe make some sort of healing herb that could fix me right up."

Katie didn't bother to respond to that, instead simply leaning forward and planting a soft kiss on my lips. It was a peck at best, but it meant the world to me. When she pulled away I stared at her blankly like a deer caught in the headlights. This only made her smile grow ever so slightly. "Consider that my thank you."

I nodded worldless, not trusting myself to speak without sounding like a fish out of water. Instead, I reached into my medical kit and pulled out a clear stainless steel bottle and handed it to her. Katie took it and opened the bottle to take a look inside. Her eyes widened as she saw the bright gold liquid sloshing around as well as the slight glow being emitted from the top of the bottle.

"Doctor says you need to take some of this." I said, feeling my medical senses kicking in as well as it gave me a reason to change the subject.

Katie didn't argue and instead pulled the canteen to her lips and started to drink. She took a dainty little sip and tasted it in her mouth. She smacked her lips together before taking another small sip. After that she decided she's had enough as she capped the bottle and handed it back to me.

I put it away back into my bag and sat took a seat in front of her. An awkward silence descended between us for a long moment. I folded my arms on my lap and tapped my fingers against each other while Katie seemed more interested in looking at the polka dots on her socks. Occasionally one of us would let out a nervous chuckle or a grunt but that was only adding fuel to the fire.

Finally I summoned the courage to try and break the deadlock. "So what did it taste like? The Nectar I mean."

"My mothers fruit salad." Katie replied.

"Nice." I said almost by instinct then thought about what she just said. "Wait. Your mom cooks for you?"

Katie nodded. "I know it may not seem like it, but Demeter isn't such a bad mom."

A dozen snarky comments filled my head in an instant that I wanted to say, but I decided on simply staying quiet and listening to what she had to say. She took my silence as a sign to keep going. Leaning back to a comfortable position as she spoke. "I mean she always invites me to her shop to help her, but afterwards she would cook and we would spend the day together. We would watch a movie or go to the mall or something. Not all the gods would really make the time for their kids like that."

"I know," I said quietly, looking away from her. I thought of all the times that I prayed to Apollo for guidance or for some help. While I never expected him to drop everything and materialize in front of me, I still felt as if my prayers were left empty. "Trust me, I know."

Katie frowned and placed a hand on my shoulder. I could see her grimace as she seemed to have regretted what she said. "Oh, I'm sorry. I never realized that with you and your father."

"Its fine." I said quickly and sighed. "I honestly got used to it already. The gods are busy people, ruling the world and such."

"Well," Katie said slowly and bit her lip, chewing on it softly. "If it makes you feel any better, you are doing great without him. And I really do appreciate what your doing for me."

I rubbed the back of my head and smiled nervously. "Well it's nothing really."

This seemed to surprise Katie. "Nothing, Nathan you're literally risking your life on a quest just to get my mother's blessing. That is amazing and something no one else would ever do. It means everything to me."

I didn't really know what happened next, but the next thing I knew was that we were both hugging and laying down on her bed with Katie nuzzling against me. I smiled and gently ran my hand across her back and relaxed. I didn't know how long we were like this, but I didn't care anymore. I simply closed my eyes and enjoyed every minute of it.


	6. Chapter 6

**Nathan's POV**

I didn't know when I passed out, but the next thing I knew was Sam's voice sounding over the PA system loud enough to jolt me awake. I sat up and reached for the dagger supposed to be on my nightstand before realizing I wasn't in my room.

I rubbed the side of my head and groaned, taking a look around where I was. Beside me was Katie who was sprawled on the bed, seemingly still snoozing peacefully, though the wrinkle of irritation on her face told me otherwise. I was still in her room then.

The thought caused me to sigh with relief and slowly relax back down beside her. So what I thought happened last night wasn't a dream then. It was all true. I smiled and curled up beside her, ready to pull her sheets above both of us, but the PA system sounded once again and crushed those dream.

"Good morning passenger, I hope you all had a nice sleep because I certainly haven't gotten much. For breakfast, we're having some spam with a side of my spit in your food."

"As tasty as that sounds, I think I'll skip breakfast," Katie muttered as she had the pillow pulled to cover her ears. Without another word, she rolled to her side and turned her back away. Less than a minute later she was snoring softly. With that decision made, I rubbed the remaining drowsiness from my eyes and slung my bow over my shoulder before making my way out.

I yawned softly and stopped in my cabin first to get a few things. I changed into a clean pair of jeans and a T-shirt and refilled my quiver with arrows. I noticed my armor was still where I left it on the bed. After a moments debate, I decided to put it on. I wasn't sure when the next monster attack would and I was determined not to get caught off guard a third time.

It took another few minutes to don my breastplate and helmet. Once that was done, I started to make my way towards the bridge.

Sam was still in the captain's wheel, gently guiding the ship. She had somehow found the type to change out of her clothes as well and was now wearing an orange T-shirt, jeans and combat boots under her own armor. Her helmet rested on the table behind her. I watched her direct the ship and cleared my throat loud enough for her to hear.

She slowly turned around towards me and nodded. Sam looked surprisingly good for someone who just pulled an all-nighter. There were some dark circles under her eyes and a drained look on her face, but aside from that she still looked pretty good. She had somehow even managed to make her messy, uncombed hair seem natural. Still, I felt guilt blossoming in my chest for making her stay up.

"Hey there," I said gently. "Why don't you get some breakfast and some rest. I can take over from here."

That seemed to be the only thing she was asking for. She nodded her head and yawned loudly. Her shoulders slumped as she walked past me. When she was right beside me, she gave me a punch in the shoulder. "So did you finally get to talk to Katie?"

When I nodded my head, Katie grinned from ear to ear and squealed like a little girl being told they were going to the candy store. "Thank god Nathan. I was starting to worry."

"What, I would have gotten her eventually." I protested and folded my arms indignantly.

She rolled her eyes. "Ya, but then you would have needed me to wheel you down the aisle when you finally got married."

"Just get some breakfast," I said testily. Katie clicked her tongue but made her way out of the bridge.

With her gone, I sighed quietly and took control of the ship's wheel. I yawned softly and looked at the flower which was left beside me. The flower was pointing towards a little bit to the right, I noticed that the stem leaning in a far steeper angle than before. I adjusted the direction of the ship.

Katie came a few hours later with a sandwich and a cup of coffee. She left it at the table behind me. Before she left, she gave me a quick kiss on the lips that cause me to start and looked back at her. She winked at me before disappearing out of the deck.

After a while, I took a break and took a look at the sandwich first, making sure there was now spit mixed in with the peanut butter before taking a bite. It was really good and I suspected that Katie made it given the whole grain bread used. I took a sip from

my coffee and savored my meal before turning back towards the controls.

After a quick break for lunch, the two girls went up to the boats the main deck. They chatted idly while playing cards on a table they had set up earlier.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful save for one occasion when an oversized sea serpent appeared. It rammed its body against our hull and then tried to squeeze the ship with its tail before Katie drove it off with a volley from the Sea Bitch autocannon.

By then the flower was now going crazy, bending forward almost at the very base of the stem in a ninety-degree handle. Even its petals were all pointing forward. It must mean that we were getting closer to the island.

I adjusted the ship's engines and increased the speed of the ship slightly. Before long an island started to appear in the horizon. It was almost as large as the one with the giants. I glanced at the flower once again and saw it visibly shaking as it continued to point there. I felt as if a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders as I looked on.

I knew that getting the flower wouldn't be an easy task, but now we were at the last leg of the quest. Part of me briefly considered speeding up to the max speed and trying to get there now, but I hesitated to reach for the controls. Instead, I tapped the button on the PA system. "You girls mind heading up here? I think we're almost at Circes island."

It took another five minutes for the girls to wrap up their game and enter the bridge. In that time, I killed the engines and lowered the Sea Bitch anchor. I activated one of the ships mounted cameras and directed it to zoom into the island.

"Over there." I said, pointing at the screen which magnified the view.

Sam let out a loud whistle as she leaned forward. "Wow, if I knew that was the island we're going to, then I would have skipped the first one altogether."

Circes island certainly looked magnificinet. While the giants seemed habitable, it was never something particularly welcoming. This island on the other hand practically screamed come and land here. The entire shore was nothing but pristine, white sand beaches and beautiful palm trees. There were buildings too, practically an entire town consisting of simple wooden huts around a four storey building. There was even a port docked with every kind of ship imaginable: Greek Triremes, Spanish Galleons, towering cruise ships, sleek sailing ships, and even a couple of warships.

"Be careful," Katie warned in a low breath. She didn't seem too impressed with the place and looked on curiously. "Percy told me about this place. It may seem all sunshine and rainbows, but those ships never left for a reason."

That certainly put a damper on things. Still, looking at her expressions I knew that this wasn't disheartening Katie. "So whats the plan then? If we go on there Circe will just use her tricks as always and we don't have Hermes little herb. Unless you can whip something up?"

I directed that last part towards Katie, but she raised her hands helplessly. "Sorry, it would take weeks just to identify what plant it was, and even if I could I don't have a place to grow it then."

"Then what do we do?" I asked.

"Well I might have a bit more immunity since I'm a daughter of Aphrodite." Sam pointed out and an evil grin started to form on her face. She unsheathed her dagger and twirled it around. "We may not have that herb, I say we go in and tell her to cut the crap and give us the apple."

"She still has other magical powers aside from that one potion." I reminded her and sat back onto my chair thoughtfully. I scratched my chin and tried to think of an idea, but nothing came. The others seemed to be just as lost though.

"Well, I don't really think we have much of a choice. I guess we should just go in and hope for the best, watch each others back and make sure nothing goes wrong." Katie said and frowned.

"Well I mean we don't even know if Circes there." Sam pointed out and looked through the camera. She zoomed into the maxaimum range and took the toggle in her hand. She searched around the beaches and chewed her lip. "Ya, it doesn't seem like theres much here. I don't see anyone."

That didn't do much to reassure me, if anything it just made me more uncertain. "Are you sure?"

"Yup," Katie said and did one more sweep. "Besides, didn't Percy say he also wiped out the club and it was burned to the ground?"

I nodded, remembering the story he told back at the campfire. Though of course he also mentioned freeing an army of pirates which I found a bit hard to believe. "Still, I doube Circe can be defeated that easily."

"Its your call." Sam said and slumped on the chair, twirling a dagger on her finger. "I'm with you either way."

Katie said something similar and I looked at the island. They couldn't have been more than fives miles of. It was so close. I flipped the switched and brought the engine back to life. "We go in."

That brought a smile to the Daughter of Aphrodite. She pulled the anchor back up and soon we were powering ahead. Katie placed a hand on my shoulder to reassure me. I nodded my head gratefully and she disappeared back down to take her place on the autocannon.

The ship slowly began to advance forward, slicing through the waves as we advanced. I looked at the sonar and frowned, noticing something starting to make its way from the northeast quadrant. It was far away and moving slowly, but it path was headed right in front of us.

I looked around the viewport and tried to spot it. I did find something in the distance. I was the shape of a ship, but I couldn't make out some of the details. It had three huge black sails billowing in our direction and speeding the ship up slightly.

"Guys, something on our starboard side approaching. I'm not sure if its friendly though." I announced over the PA system again. In response, Katie turned her turret in its direction.

It started to draw closer and I began to make out a few more details on the ship. It was big, though not as big as our own ship, but its sides bristled with heavy iron cannons. At least forty of them. I paled slightly at the sight of them. They looked to have been at used in the 1700s, but with so many I doubted if we could take them all.

But that wasn't was got my attention.

That was the flag on top of its highest sails was a small black flag with a skull and crossbones on it.

 _Well, Percy, it looks like you were telling the truth then. Thanks for screwing us over._ I gulped softly and continued to sail towards them. I could see Katie getting ready for anything, her fingers tapping against the triggers nervously, just waiting for the time to fire. They were already within range of attacking the ship, but it seemed both of us wanted to see what the pirates would do first.

Oddly enough, the pirates seemed to be in no hurry to attack. None of their cannons were armed and the men on deck were waving at us, as if to signal us over. Their ship was now right in front of _Sea Bitch_. A figure stood at the bow of the ship and looked down towards us. He was a big man with a scraggly black beard. He was dressed like a stereotypical pirate; a tricorn, waistcoat, breeches, and with a cutlass in hand.

As he raised his weapon, it caught one of the suns rays in its blade and reflected towards the bridge. I shielded my eyes, but I could tell it was Celestial Bronze. I already had a good idea to who this guy might be, at least if the last part of Percy's story was true.

The only question now would be is why they're here?

The pirate ship continued to sail on ahead in front of us. It made no attempt to stop and I realized we would end up hitting it if I didn't stop _Sea Bitch_. I lowered the anchor once again and got my bow and helmet just in case.

Sam was out there by the time I got onto the deck. She had donned her helmet and burst out of the lower decks with a sword drawn. She looked at me inquiringly and jerked her head towards the ship. I only shrugged in response as I drew an arrow and took aim at the people standing on deck. The two ships were now only separated by a tiny gap of about four or five feet.

The figures on board the other ship were now clearly visible. They were dressed like pirates alright, and carried swords and spears with them, though they didn't appear ready to use it though. Katie also kept her weapon trained on the captain. This however only seemed to amuse him.

The pirate captain took hold of a nearby and without warning, swing himself across the gap between our ships. Katie let out a gasp and I nearly loosed my arrow on him, but the man landed solidly on our deck. He threw his head back and let out a bellow. "YARRR. Don't worry lad and lasses, I'm not here to rob you."

To show this, he looked at the sword in his hand and placed it back into its sheath. It didn't encourage me too much though, not when twenty cannons were facing down on me. "Who are you?"

The pirate laughed, placing a hand on his chest. "I be the infamous Blackbeard, scourge of the Atlantic Ocean. Who are you little hero and why are you heading to Circe's island?"

The last two words had an edge to them. Some of the pirates growled and spat into the ocean. They drew their sword and waved them in the air. Blackbeard grunted and stood, hands akimbo. "I am here to warn you boy."

"Warn us?" Katie gasped and looked at him in surprise. Her gaze quickly hardened though as her fingers remained on the gun. "Warn us about what?"

"About the witch in the island. We were once prisoners in her island, but me and my crew were freed by a young demigod several years ago. Now, we roam around her island, warning people of the dangers there." Blackbeard growled, waving his thick hand towards the island. "If you are planning on heading there, then I suggest you turn around now."

"And why is that?" Sam scowled and leaned forward, keeping her sword ready as she looked up at the captain and tapped her foot impatiently.

"Because that witch has retaken her island," Blackbeard growled testily and glared right back at her. "She has established herself as the ruler of that resort once again and has continued to make new spells, recruit new magic users and…"

"And what?" Sam pressed.

"She has gotten more ruthless." Blackbeard growled softly, forcing the words out. "Circe is not one to take chances anymore with anyone who enters her island. If you go, she will not offer you lasses a place in her court and turn the lad into a guinea pig. She'll kill them."

The last part caused us to hesitate. Katie glanced at me uncertainly while Sam lowered her sword a fraction and seemed to believe him. I felt as if something had struck me in the chest. I was always aware that if I went to Circe's island, there was a pretty decent chance that something bad would happen to us, maybe even death. But it never occured to me how real the idea was and I wasn't ready for it.

I tried my best to keep my face neutral, the only indication I gave was the breath I swallowed. After that, I lowered my weapons as well and simply nodded my head. "Thank you for your warning captain."

"So what does that mean?" He asked, not satisfied yet. "That you'll be turning your ship around and be heading home lad?"

I shook my head slowly and straightened my posture. Turning at my heel, I started to walk away with my arms behind my back. "Unfortunately, I can't. We still have a quest to finish and what we need is still on her island."

Again everyone gasped. Katie placed her hands to her lips. "No Nathan please, we don't need to do this. I can go back and talk to my mom, we can work something out. But lets just turn around."

Sam nodded her head and turned to me. "Katie's right. This seems a bit too dangerous."

"More dangerous than everything we went through now?" I asked pointedly. I glanced up towards the bridge. The flower was still by the window, twitching as it continued to point for us to go forward.

"We never knew she was going to kill anyone Nathan. Circe isn't like those giants, she has powers of magic and is a master of trickery." Sam pointed out.

I stopped midway through the deck and slowly started to turn around. I face her first. I wanted to agree with her and turn this boat around, but it was so close already. All I needed was this and I can finally get Demeters blessing. "And we knew there was danger when we signed up for this quest. What does it matter now? We can't just turn back after everything we've been through now. It just doesn't make sense."

"And that's your problem, your only thinking with your head." Sam remarked and stepped beside me, gently grabbing my shoulder and making me face her. "Listen, I know how much this means to you, but think about Katie. Will you really put her through this?"

I glanced back at the Daughter of Demeter, the one who looked at me uncertainty. I knew that she would follow me no matter what I chose, there was no doubt about that. Finally, I sighed and looked down. "Alright, let's go sleep on this first. We can make a decision tomorrow. Does that sound good?"

Sam slowly pulled her hand away from me and nodded her head. Katie also seemed satisfied with this arrangement. I glanced towards Blackbeard who was waiting in front of us with his arms folded. "Is that gonna be a problem? Will you stop us with our decision?"

"Don't worry about that demigod. I gave you my warning, now whatever happens next will be on you. I just wish you the best of luck little hero." With that, the pirate turned around and made his way towards the edge of our ship. He squatted up and leaped up towards his ship. He didn't quite reach it though and fell short by a few inches. His pirates were there to help him though and pulled him up to the deck.

Once he was safely on boat, the pirate ship started to sail off. We watched them go and as Blackbeard disappeared, he offered us a quick salute.

* * *

Dinner was pretty quiet later that night. We gathered around the mess hall and ate some microwave macaroni and cheese which Sam prepared. I glanced to Katie who sat across the table and was absently picking at her food with her fork. She hadn't lifted her eyes off her plate or said a word since the pirates left.

I didn't mind too much as I wasn't in the mood to talk either. Instead I continued to eat quietly, taking small bites of it. I was halfway through my food before Katie sighed and gently slammed her hands on the table. "You don't need to do this Nathan."

I set my fork down. "Then what should we do? I mean, Demeter already doesn't like me, how do you think it would look if we came back empty handed?"

"We can find another way." Katie persisted. She set her own fork down and shook her head firmly. "I can try talking to her, or maybe we can go and date without her blessing. I mean, what will she do if we don't get her blessing."

"Woah." Sam said quickly, standing up suddenly and raising her arms out to signal Katie to slow down. "Trust me, that's not a good idea. You never piss of a god with your love life. Look at how many girls Hera got rid off after Zeus slept around."

"Ya, that's too big of a risk for both of us." I said firmly and shook my head. My expression softened though as I saw Katie sniffle softly. She quickly tried to hide it, but I noticed her wiping her nose. I slowly got up and gently placed my arms around her. "Listen, I know that you care for your mom, that's why I can't ask you to do this."

"But what about you?" She asked weakly, looking up. This time I could see her eyes gleaming with unshed tears. It only made me pull her closer and I gently stroked her back. "If you go in there, then you'll die."

Sam nodded her head and looked at me. "She's right you know. I mean I'd do anything for love, but this is too risky. Not unless we plan something. I'm sure we can think of something if we put our heads to it."

The two girls shared a nod and it was clear that they were in agreement. I looked at them and knew that there was no getting through them. I closed my eyes and took all of this in and took a deep breath.

"I'm not sure. But we can't turn back now." I said firmly. I opened my eyes and started to look at them, searching their faces before continuing. "But we can wait and think this true."

Katie nodded and looked like she had a boulder lifted from her and Sam's shoulders sagged with relief. The former quickly wrapped her hands around me and hugged me tightly, squeezing me until I began to squirm in protest. Despite that, I didn't protest and savored every bit of it.

Dinner took a more positive note afterwards. The silence remained as they ate, but some of the tension started to disappear. Katie even began to smile a bit as we continued to eat. We soon finished and Sam collected the plates to take to the kitchen.

Katie refilled her mug with coffee and began to head back to the bridge for her shift. I waved her goodbye and let out a yawn, telling her I would get some rest. Both girls offhandedly said goodbye and I made my way down the halls.

I quickly made my way to my room and practically collapsed on the bed, not even bothering to take off my armor. I lay on the mattress and groaned softly. I was tempted to just close my eyes and drift off to sleep, but I still had a job to do. Intead, I decided to come to a compromise and set my phones alamer. I'd let myself rest for a few hours, but after that I would need to get to work.

I shut my eyes and almost instantly drifted off into a nice and dreamless sleep. I slept like a rock and groaned softly, waking up as my phone's alarm went off; an old timey car horn. I rolled on my back and growled, regretting my decision to get the loudest and most annoying alarm I found. I quickly took the phone in my hand and turned the alarm off.

Slowly getting to my feet, I placed my phone back into the pocket of my jeans and rolled my shoulders. A numb pain spread across my arm and caused me to curse out. My second regret since waking up, not taking that armor off. I grunted, flexing my arm as I tried to stretch.

I headed to my bathroom and started to wash off my body which helped soothe my soreness slightly, but I knew that I didn't have time to enjoy it. Instead, I shook off my drowsiness and started pull out some pen and paper. I didn't bother sitting down as I scrawled down a quick note and folded it onto my bed.

With that done, I collected my weapons together before looking at the porthole in my cabin. I slowly pushed the window open, listening the crashing waves outside. It was louder than I expected. That was good, it meant that girls won't be able to hear what I would do next.

The window was smaller than I hoped, so I needed something to drown it out. I pushed one of my chairs against the window and climbed against it. Taking a deep breath, I started to push myself through, careful to make as little noise as possible as I started to slide out after pushing bow and quiver out. I dropped to a kneel and slung my quiver over my body once again.

I kept my body close and ran alongside the length of the ship towards its stern. I was careful to make sure Sam didn't notice me from her room. At the back, I found one of the rubber boats still left where we hauled it up.


	7. Chapter 7

**Nathan's POV**

I heaved the oars back and forth against the water, grunting in the effort as I fought against the waves and tried to push my little boat onwards. I had to kill the engines about halfway through when I noticed Katie starting to wake up from her porthole. Since then I had to rely on nothing but my own muscle.

Thankfully the night offered great cover for him to move. It made the water look like a murky, black color and let me move in silence. It didn't give him any help in moving the little boat though and I moved it made another stroke with the oars, propelling me just a little bit closer towards the shore. I was aiming towards a secluded little corner a short ways off from the main resort area. It was without any buildings or guests, just a handful of small huts that seemed uninhabited.

After what felt like hours, I was dragging the boat ashore with a rope. I clumsily stumbled on the sand, my jeans were soaked and each step was an effort for me to accomplish. I felt my breaths come out in ragged intervals. I looked around and spotted a rock that seemed suitable for me to tie the rope around it.

One that was tied and the boat was now bobbing gently in the water, I dropped onto the sand and gasped for air. My chest moved up and down heavily. It seemed as if my entire body was made of heated iron, burning and leaving me barely able to move. I closed my eyes and shifted in the ground. Sand started to spill into my clothes, but I didn't care, I needed to lie down.

Part of me wanted to just close my eyes and take a nap. I would just rest for a few minutes and get to work in a little bit, but I couldn't bring myself to it. I knew that if I closed my eyes and rested, I wouldn't be waking up anytime soon. If that happened then I would waste any time I bought myself now and leave myself exposed.

With a few grunts in pain, I rolled on my belly and forced myself to get to my feet. I clambered on it and started to walk forward towards the boat to retrieve my weapons. Once my bow was slung on my shoulder, I began to make my way towards the resort area. I kept to the shadows, careful to make sure nobody saw me.

I slowly began to move away from the pass, opting instead to move under rocks and cut through the way by climbing. The building was built on a small, rocky hill which gave me plenty of cover within the boulders. Thankfully there wasn't anyone there and only a couple of street lamps that illuminated the way for me. This was a good thing because more than once my fatigue got the better of me and I nearly slipped or knocked something down as I climbed.

Eventually, though, I heard a voice talking above me. I crouched down against the rocks, pressing against it to try and avoid being spotted. A short ways off, I spotted a bush growing out of the cliff side and rolled towards it. The branches dug into my arms

tilted my head to the side and tried to hear them. One of the voices was clearly female, cultured and barely a whisper. "Are you sure of what you saw?"

A gravelly voice spoke in reply. Their footsteps thudded dimly against the stone floor. "Yes mistress, I swear it. The guards reported seeing a small ship about a mile off from the island. Blackbeard approached them and boarded the ship, but he left shortly after."

"And the ship is still there?" She asked. I didn't hear any reply, but he must have acknowledged it as the young woman cursed. "Damn, what is that savage planning? Could be bringing in more men to try and retake the island?"

"I am not sure mistress, but I have all the guards on high alert. They will not be able to set one foot here without us knowing about it." The second voice assured her empathically. There was a slight clang of armor as he slammed his hand against his breastplate.

"See that they do not captain. I have invested far too much trying to take back this island, I will not have all be taken away by some has been pirate." The woman snapped at the captain sharply, not sounding entirely convinced.

I watched and waited for the footsteps to disappear. Even then I mentally counted to ten before slowly crawling forward and peeking up. I sighed with relief when I saw no one there. Getting to my feet, I continued to move upwards towards the entrance of the resort.

Once the entrance came to sight, I scowled at the sight of it. Narrowing my eyes to get a closer look, I could see it was gated and locked right now. Two guards in Greek armor stood watch with spears and shields held ready. I was tempted to use one of my light arrows on them. If I could blind them and move quick enough, maybe I could slip through. Glancing again, I decided against it. There was no way I could get through that quietly.

Instead I moved to the side, towards the bushes to try and get some cover while I looked around. The whole resort seemed to be sealed off from the rest of the island. The walls rose about eight feet and was made of concrete. It didn't seem too difficult to climb though, I followed the wall with my gaze and slowly began to get to my feet.

I took a step forward, stumbling slightly as I still felt the fatigue from my landing but I managed to regain myself and began to shift towards the right, towards the grassier areas where I could have a bit more cover as I moved closer to the walls.

I began to run along the length of the wall, looking until I found a secluded corner where I could begin climbing. It was well out of sight from any gates and didn't seem to have any security cameras on. I took a few steps back, looking up over the edge as I pulled my bow out. Next I got an arrow ready, one with a rope tied against it. I shot it over the wall and listened until I heard the soft thump of it hitting the ground. With that, I began to climb up the wall.

Once I was safely across, I reached for the arrow and pulled it out. The bottom half snapped off though but I pulled the tip out anyway. The last thing I need would be someone to realize I was here. I quickly wrapped the rope up shoved it into my pocket. With that done, I began to look around. I was in a garden of some sorts. There was a swimming pool a short ways off and a terrace in the distance. I froze though as I spotted a guard standing on the terrace.

He saw me too and he narrowed his eyes at me. Moments later a second guard appeared and they began to make their way down towards me. Without thinking, I turned around and began to sprint away.

In my hurry, I ran right into a third guard who was approaching from behind. I hit the ground with a soft thud and looked up at him. The guardsman sneered down at me with his sword drawn over his head. Behind me, I could hear his two companions running up to me.

This wasn't good at all. It would only be a few seconds before they surrounded me and then I couldn't do anything even if I wanted to. Without thinking, I leaped to my feet and threw myself at the nearest one. The two guards were too surprised to stop me and could do little as I swung my bow against the first guy.

It connected his helmet with a metallic clang and sent him toppling to the ground. I watched with a sense of satisfaction as the guard fell to the ground, thrashing on his back like a turtle. From the corner of my eye, I saw something moving behind me. I danced aside just as a spear was thrust at the spot where I was standing and nearly skewered me. I whirled around and went to face him, dropping my bow and pulling a dagger out.

The man growled and pulled his spear back, getting ready to attack again. I lunged once again, holding my dagger at a reverse grip and getting ready to stab him. We both fell to the ground but this one was ready, or just a bit faster as he managed to score a blow at my shoulder. I hissed in pain, feeling the blood starting to trickle along my arm. I forced it aside though and jammed my dagger against the chink in his armor under his armpit.

The guard let out a loud shriek in pain. It sounded like gasp breaking and was too high to have been human. He jerked his head up and looked at me before his body dissolved into ash. It dissolved away like sand in the beach. A few seconds later his empty breastplate hit the ground an empty thud.

I looked down at him in shock, my eyes widening in surprise. A hundred questions ran through my head, but before I could ask any of them I felt something strike me at the back of my head and everything went dark.

* * *

 **Katie's POV**

I occasionally glanced out my rooms porthole as I paced around the room nervously. My mind was racing as I tried to answer and justify the many questions in my head. Where the heck was Nathan? Why did he leave? And why on earth is one of the lifeboats in the ship misssing.

I didn't even realize that I was nibbling on my fingernails until I felt them pressing against my lips. Sam was with me in the room well, sitting with her feet up on the bed as she continued to look on from the window. She hadn't said a word since fidning out Nathan left.

"This isn't good at all Sam." I said, turning towards her and trying to guage her reaction. Her gaze remained distant and she barely even grunted. I wrinkled my nose slightly in irriation as I saw her silence. "We need to do something. How could be do something so stupid, so selfish, and macho. Whats he trying to prove anyway?"

As I said those things, I could begin to feel my voice getting a bit higher. I ran my fingers through my hair to try and let out my anger. All it did was hurt my scalp and caused me to throw my hands up in frustration. I grabbed a pillow from the bed that she wasn't using and started to scream into it.

Once I was done, I threw it aside and looked at her. "Come on Sam I need your help."

This finally got Sam's attention and she looked away from the window. She turned to me and regarded me with confusion. Sighing softly, she closed her eyes. When she spoke her voice seemed to break. "I don't know honestly. I've been thinking hard about all of this, racking my brains but I got nothing."

She sighed, looking down in defeat. "I don't know honeslty. I'm sorry I can't help anymore."

I paused, looking at her as she slumped on the bed. I instantly felt guilty for what I just said as I saw how little I was listening to her. "I'm sorry too, I'm just a bit frustrated Sam, how can we just sit here while Nathan's out there?"

Sam started to get up from the bed. She nodded sympathetically as she moved over and started to hug me. "I'm sorry Katie, but we need to be careful. If Nathan is out there in the island then we need to be careful."

I couldn't really fault her logic and nodded my head reluctantly. I joined her by the bed. "So what do you think we should do?"

"Well, I think that its safe to say that Nathan went to the island. I mean, thats where we were supposed to and thats the only place that he can go to with that tiny ship." Sam began to say, nodding her head and crossing her arms together.

Again, I nodded my head. The thought sent shivers down my body as I thought of that. Sam continued to speak though, beginning to stand up and rubbing her chin. "Well, if he was caught…"

She trailed off slightly when she noticed the stricken look on my face. She pursed her lips and paused at least until I nodded my head for her to continue, telling her it was ok. "Well, then that would mean that they're probably on high alert now for more attackers. We can't just go storming in guns blazing then."

"Then what do we do?"

"Well, I've been thinking of that and I think I might have an idea that might get us into the resort without a fight." Sam said, pausing for a moment to try and collect her thoughts. "What if we go in posing as girls who want to join her attendants. Annabeth said that Circe tried to recruit her into her attendants. We could say that the pirates tried to rob us and we managed to escape."

"That might work," I nodded my head in agreement.

With all the planning done, the only thing left to do was head there ourselves. Thankfully I had already got all my things ready and all I needed to do was done my armor. By the time I had the last straps on, Sam was up on her feet with the flat of her sword resting on her shoulder.

The two of us made our way to the one remaining boat on the deck of the ship. As Sam moved over to begin powering it up, I glanced towards the gun systems of Sea Bitch. "Why don't we just use these to fight our way in? I mean I doubt Cerci has anything more modern than military auto cannons."

Sam turned the ignition on and the boats engines hummed to life. As she began to lower it onto the water, she glanced back at me with a bit of amusement. "I thought about that too, but as fun as it would be to come in on a warship, it wouldn't do much good. It might get us through any shore defenses they have, but the resort is far too out of range and we don't know what magical tricks she has up her sleeve."

I found myself impressed with Sam's forward thinking. I looked at her and whistled loudly. "Damn, when did you become such a clever strategist."

She smirked and threw her hair back proudly. Sam started to climb inside and helped me in. "I guess it just comes naturally."

I took her head and smirked. As I sat beside her I got an idea. Grabbing her shirt sleeve and yanking it hard. The fabric ripped and tore off. Sam cried out in surprise and looked at me indignantly. "What was that for?"

I shrugged innocently. "To look convincing. I mean we need to look like we escaped right."

Sam opened her mouth to protest, but couldn't seem to think of a retort. She nodded her head. "I didn't think of that. Here let me do you."

She scooped up some salt water and splashed it on my face. I grunted and blew a wet strand of hair out of my face before nodding. We ripped up each other's clothes a bit, adjusted a few straps of our armor to make it look uneven, and smeared ourselves with water and grease. Soon we looked like to homeless Greek warriors.

Once we were suitably dirty, Sam powered up the engines and led us to the island. I rested my spear on the ground, looking up towards the island. My mind was drifting away to Nathan. Where he was and what I would do to anyone who might have captured him.

As they got closer, Sam frowned and sped the ship up slightly. "I got archers on the rocks."

I stood up straighter, searching around to where she was looking and spotted the outline of men standing by the rocks. By the looks of it they noticed us as well as their bows were notched and drawn. The smaller boat didn't have any machine guns, which meant our only defense were what we could throw at them.

I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate, summoning my powers. I could sense the plants all around me, in the island and in the sea. There was a lot of it though which meant that I could hit them if it came to it, but none of the guards seem interested in firing, they just kept their weapons on us. "I count about twenty of them in all."

"Plus three more on the beach." Sam replied, pointing forward. There was actually four of them on the beach. Three guards and a young woman who stood a few feet from the shore, seeming to be waiting for them. "Looks like Nathan was here."

I didn't know whether to be relieved or angry about that, but as the boat came to a stop, I put those feelings aside for now and concentrated on trying to be diplomatic. The two of us climbed out, our feet splashing in the water as we walked forward. The young woman remained where she was, smiling brightly as if she were seeing old friends. Her guards meanwhile weren't as welcoming. Two of them lowered their spears who,e the third growled and kept his hand to his sword.

I glanced at Sam who gave me a _let me handle this_ look. I didn't protest and let he step forward to do the talking. The daughter of Aphrodite cleared her throat and spread her arms open in a welcoming gesture. "I greet you friends."

Neither of the guards seemed very welcoming. The swordsman let out a low rumbling noise whose hand didn't leave his sword. He didn't draw it yet, which I considered a win. He spoke harshly that was just as sharp as his blade. "Who are you? What is your business here?"

The young woman looked at her guard and placed a hand on his bicep, signaling him to calm down. The confused soldier looked at the smaller woman in confusion, but she gave him a long look until the man's hand pulled away from his weapon. She turned towards him and smiled warmly. "My my, what are you young ladies doing out here and why do you look like that? You girls looked as if you were dragged through a junkyard."

Sam nodded her head miserably. She did a good job in looking like miserable prisoner. When she tried to take a step forward, she stumbled and nearly fell to the ground. I practically rolled my eyes at her exaggeration. "Oh it was terrible miss, we just barely escaped our captors and fled here."

The young woman placed her hand to her lips in horror as she heard this. She nodded her head and listened to what they had to say. "Oh that must have been terrible. Who was the ones who kidnapped you?"

She shook her head. "Pirates, and other demigods. They wanted to sell us into slavery, but my friend managed to escape on one of their boats. We sailed here shortly after to look for shelter."

The woman nodded her head sympathetically and clapped her hands. She gestured for her guards to stand down and look at them. Placing her hand on Sam's shoulders, she began to lead her inside. "Well you certainly came to the right place. This is the place for lost girls to find a new home. I am Circe the sorceress."

My eyes widened slightly and looked in surprise. Sam had a similar look on her face as she glanced back. The two of them looked of us shared a nervous look, but we followed after her. Circe didn't give us much choice though since her guards followed after.

"I apologize for my guards dears, there have recently been problems with raiders and pirates so I had to take in additional security measures." Circe explained, not glancing back to us. "We even had to deal with a boy who tried to break into my resort. But worry not though, he was quickly apprehended and now remains in my dungeon."

Suddenly, everything else melted away as she said those words. A ringing begs to sound in my ears as I stared at her in surprise. I felt my blood chill to the bone as she spoke. I tried twice to speak up as we entered, but each time I felt the words taste like ash into my lips. Finally, I managed to force the words out. "Where did he come from?"

Circe glanced back in my direction. For a moment, I saw a tongue of fire in the place of her irises. It ignited but was quickly replaced with her old amber ones. "Oh, he has not talked yet, but he will soon enough. I promise you that we'll find out soon enough."

I gulped softly. The blood rushed to my heart and caused it to bear faster and faster like a motorcycle accelerating. It felt like it was about to crash. Now it was my turn to stumbled a step and nearly fell on the ground. One of the guards grabbed me by the shoulders and hauled me to my feet.

The sorceress glanced back and frowned. "Is something wrong?"

Sam quickly went to my side and took my from the guard. She placed her arm around my shoulder and shook her head. "Nothing's wrong, my friend is just tired from the journey."

Circe stared at her for a moment, her eyes seeming to stare into her soul. Eventually, she sniffed and the kind expression returned to her face as she bowed her head. "Of course, poor thing. Worry not, we'll make sure you get plenty of rest."

As we moved in deeper into the building, I began to look around and take in the scenery. Much like the outside, the inside was made to look like a resort. On one side of the building was a large open area that seemed to serve as the buildings lounge. K could see dozens of guests milling about on sofas or playing with some of the recreational activities there: pool, basketball, or ping pong.

Outside that, I noticed a swimming area where half a dozen pools, each surrounded by cabanas and even a bar where a young woman was brewing up some fruit shakes. It didn't escape my notice either that all the guests and staff, minus the guards were women. "This is our recreation center, where the guests and residences of this island can relax and enjoy their time."

"Where are all the guys here?" I asked innocently. Truth be told, I already had a good idea to where they might be, but I just wanted to hear what .circe had to say.

This only seemed to amuse her as the sorceress only laughed and patted my head affectionately. It was a musical sound, relaxing like the sound of a chimes ringing. "Oh don't you worry your little head about that my dear. All those men who hurt you are out of your reach. As for our guests, well let's just say they have another area more suited for them."

I had no response to that and simply fell silent. With that said, they continued on with their tour. After that, the lounge area gave way to a spa area with mud baths, a massage area and other pampering things that Sam looked head over heels for. The Daughter of Aphrodite stared at it as they walked, utterly fixed on it. She probably would have started drooling over it if Circe hadn't pushed them onwards. "A wonderful site isn't it. Now I'm sure you must be dying to try the spa out, but we have one more area to visit before that."

After the spa there was nothing left to see at the hallway. At the end was a small elevator door. Circe placed her thumb atop one of the buttons which started to glow a faint blue coloring. She kept it there until the color spread across the rest of the panel through grooves around it. With that done, the sorceress waved her hand and a shimmer of magic watched over the panel. It was only then that the elevator began to ascend.

When it reached their floor, the six of us herded inside and Cerci tapped repeated the process. There was only two other floors beneath us. The first was an underground parking lot, but the door opened to the second floor. The guards forced us out before I had a chance to fully understand where we were.

Once there, I looked around and saw we were on some sort of elevated balcony. Cerci casually strode out and invited us to follow after her as she made her way to the edge. Sam and I shared a look as the guards moved to either side of the elevator door. Only the captain remained at her side. It was tempting to take her now while her guards were too far away. I was pretty sure I could jam my dagger into her back before they realized what was doing on.

For a moment I even felt my fingers reach down for the hilt. Even though I did it without a sound, the guard captain looked back at me with a hard glare. His eyes seemed to dare me to do so but I quickly pulled my hand away and made it look like I was simply adjusting my belt.

I decided not to risk it. Besides, how would we find Nathan without her, or get out of this platform for that matter.

Instead the two of us made our way to the edge of the platform and looked down below. There I could see what all the commotion was about. On the floor below was a number of courts similar to a tennis court. On each one stood a couple of people in red cloaks.

It took me only a moment to realize they were sorceresses. That was when one of them lobbed a fireball at another. The second one dodged and countered with a flurry of icicles. They were dueling each other, all of them. My eyes widened as I started intently at how they fought. One was struck by a multicolored blast of energy that send her flying.

Out of her cloak came a dove which flew up past us to the rafters. Instead all that hit the floor was an empty cloak. The victorious spell caster whooped in triumph, at least until another spell struck her and turned her into a block of ice.

Circe casually watched, resting her hands on the railing and smirking proudly. *This is my project girls. All of these ladies had joined me to help reach their full potential. No longer would they cling onto the foolish idea of being warriors and heroes. No that door is closed for us. Instead they're carving a new path with a force more powerful."

"Magic." Sam breathed out, watching as Circe snapped her fingers and a ball of fire emerged from it.

"Indeed, how perceptive young demigod." The sorceress nodded her head in approval. She closed the palm of her hand, extinguishing the fire at once. She turned towards me and grabbed my shoulder, slowly turning me to face her. *I can tell both of you are bright young women and I would be honored to have you as my pupils."

I glanced towards the arena below, then quickly tilted my head to the other side, looking towards the floor next. "I don't know."

She pursed her lips slowly and frowned. "Come now, do you really thing being a hero is the right path for you? How many female heroes can you name?"

I shook my head. "It's not that, I mean this is a huge choice to make. I can't just do it at a drop of a hat."

"Is there another reason you can't accept?" Circe asked, raising an eyebrow in suspicion. "Perhaps someone you can leave just yet?"

"No!" I said a bit too quickly. The sorceress raised an eyebrow, but I swallowed and took a deep breath. "I mean, I would like to know a bit more about this before I accept. Like what we must do before getting accepted."

The suspicion went away in an instant and she nodded her head. "Smart girl, perhaps you will make fine magic users. Well then if you must know it's quite simple really. The usual thins; swearing an oath to my service, testing your abilities, oh and of course taking your initiation. Does that seem fair?"

We both nodded our head and forced smiles on our faces. This seemed to mollify Circe who nodded towards her captain. "Haren, if you would be so kind as to retrieve our initiation equipment?"

The big captain looked at her curiously. "Are you sure my lady? That would mean that I would be leaving you alone with these two."

He jerked his head towards them as he said the last part. Sam seemed to take offense to this and grinned lazily at him, absently brushing her cloak back to reveal her sword hanging from the side. Circe merely raised her hand and nodded. "I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself. Besides, I have my guards here to protect me. You did say they were the very best."

Haren seemed like he was made of stone and continued to glare at us, but slowly he turned his head and began to stalk off to the elevator. He pressed the elevator door which seemed to have enough magic as he was able to use it without difficulty.

With him gone, we began to turn our attention back to the arena below where the number of fighters was now greatly reduced to about a dozen. This quickly went down to about six a minute later. Each one who was defeated was immediately teleported away to avoid getting in the way for the remaining fighters.

The last six were pushed together into one arena where they all stood, panting and looking at each other. Even from up here I could sense the tension going between them. The stare down lasted a few more moments before someone broke down and lobbed a fireball. It struck a red haired girl who gasped and disappeared into dust. The dust flew up to the air vent and left only five.

Now all hell broke loose as they all began throwing spells. Steam and frost started to hit them as different elements were thrown at once. Each girl seemed to struggle fighting off four opponents, but the one who held her own the best was a tall, blonde sorceress who conjured up a swirling energy shield as a torrent of lava was flung at her. She turned to her side and summoned an anaconda which chased after a would be attacker.

Six became four and three of them seemed to agree that blondy was the biggest threat. One manage to throw a spell that turned her arm into a block of ice, leaving her unable to cast. The three of them surrounded her and magical powers danced in their hands. Suddenly, one of the casters decided their opponent was done and turned on her friends.

She whirled around and cast an ice spell that turned her opponents into snowmen, but before she could finish blondy, the tall sorceress struck first. Unable to use magic she turned to a more reliable method. Rushing forward, the blonde magic user struck her opponent with her ice block, knocking her out cold.

She raised her hands in triumph. Looking around and Circe smiled, waving her hand. The sorceress looked around as her legs begs to dissolve. A moment later she found herself standing behind Circe. It took blondie a moment to understand what was going on and she quickly bowed down.

Circe smiled and gestured for her to rise. "You have done well Sasha. You have progressed farther than any of my other apprentices."

Sasha rose to her feet and smiled. "Thank you master."

"This is why I want you to be at my side for what happens next." She gestured towards us with her arm. "We have new recruits."

I nodded my head and waved shyly at her. Sasha greeted the two of us with a simple grunt of indifference. Behind us, the elevator opened and Haren stepped out, dragging someone with him. My eyes widened as I turned around and came to face Nathan. He was held under the guard captains iron grip.

He didn't look too good. His left eye was badly swollen and he walked with a noticeable limp that barely left him capable of keeping up with the captain. Eventually he grabbed Nathan by the arm and shoved him forward, causing him to fall to his knees. Circe didn't seem to care and simply looked at him. "Kill him for your initiation."


	8. Chapter 8

**Katie's POV**

The words echoed across the room several times, then disappeared. After that, the room had gone to a grim silence. The tips of Circe's lips tugged upwards ever so slightly as she allowed herself a small smile. Sasha remained at her side, jaw clenched as she waited for us to make our move. She seemed rather impatient though as her wrists moved around in a circle. The guards behind us were like statues and didn't even seem to be breathing.

The only sound that came from was Nathan's ragged breathing. He looked up at me, his one normal eye grim and intent on me. That looked caused my breath to leave my lips in the tiniest of gasps. Sam glanced back at me quickly, her eyes turning as white as paper.

Circe began to get impatient as she waited for us to do something. She looked at me and tapped my shoulder. In one quick gesture, she spun me around to face her. I could see the smile on her face disappearing and was replaced by a hard scowl. Circe tapped her heeled foot on the ground. "Well dear, are you waiting for something?"

"N-no miss Circe," I said quickly, shaking my head as I turned back towards him and felt my lip starting to tremble.

"Perhaps she needs some assistance," Sasha said and strode forward. Without warning she struck Nathan across the face and sent him tumbling to the side, only to be caught by the iron grip of the guards. The forced him to his feet and caused me to gasp as Sasha handed me a thin bronze knife. "Heres something you can use."

Taking the knife hilt first, I stared at it with shaking hands then looked to Nathan. "Is this really necessary?"

"Of course it's necessary," Circe said firmly. I could feel her grip on my shoulder tightening as she looked at me intently. Any warmth her face had was now gone as she stared at me, her eyes were cold and snake-like. "Now do it."

Shaking my head, I let the blade in my hand drop. "I can't do it."

Circe sighed softly, more disappointed than anything else. "Oh, how unfortunate."

There was the sound of electricity crackling behind me and I was suddenly rolling to my side as a lightning bolt struck the wall. Sasha held out a hand, lightning coursing between her fingers as she flexed them. The guards approached Sam but she kicked one away by lifting her knee and hitting him in the crotch. This knocked the guard back, but he got back to his feet with inhuman endurance. At Sam's feet, I saw Nathan rolling away.

I didn't watch her for long as I had my own problems. Rolling to my side as another bolt sapped past me. Sasha approached me with lightning glowing out of both of her fingers. She grinned wildly as she advanced closer. Without thinking, I rushed forward with the knife in my hands and jabbed it at her, yet the knife suddenly turned to rubber before my eyes and hit her with a tiny squeak.

I glanced up and saw that Sasha was just as surprised as me. I looked behind her and saw Circe who had snapped her fingers yawning casually. "You got slow Sasha, be careful."

The girl nodded her head soberly then rammed her elbow at my face. Pain blurred my vision and I blacked out for a moment. When I managed to open my eyes, Sasha was standing over me with a smirk, her dagger in hand and pointed at my throat. Sam and Nathan were both subdued as well and tossed in a heap beside me.

Circe stood beside her apprentice and was absently picking at her nails as she looked down at him. She sighed softly and glanced down at me. "I'm sorry dear, there was so much potential in you, but I suppose you are just like the other rejects as well. Never fear though, we'll make quick work of you as well."

She waved her hand and suddenly I felt myself lose control of my limbs. My arms were pressed against my side and my legs were slammed together. Before I could even open my mouth, I felt my body being lifted from the ground. The same happened to Nathan and Sam and were held in front of me.

Circe sneered at them and quickly turned away. "Take them away. I am sure we can find some use for them tomorrow as target practice for our other sorceresses."

Sasha seemed surprised at this and looked at her master. She lowered her hands as the electricity disappeared, though she didn't take her eyes off me. "Lady Circe, are you sure that is prudent? These heroes are dangerous, would it not be best to eliminate them now and prevent them from escaping in the future?"

The guards pointed at their spears at us. They only needed the order and they would skewer us, yet Circe did not give anything. Instead, she simply waved her hand dismissively and looked away. "What threat could they possibly be? We already defeated and disarmed them. Now we know who they are and are in our custody."

"I understand my lady," Sasha replied and placed a hand on her chest, though she still continued to glance in my direction. "Though might I ask the purpose of keeping them alive?"

Circe walked over to us, grabbing me and Sam by the chin and forcing us to look at her. She then spoke loudly. "I will give them one final chance to reconsider my proposition. By tomorrow if they still refuse then they can be used as experiments for the other sorceresses. Will that is a problem?"

There was a dangerous edge to her voice when she spoke. One neither Sasha or I missed. Evidently, it seems like Circe wasn't someone who likes being questioned. The sorceress gulped and quickly shook her head, bowing in submission. "No mistress, my sincerest apologies."

The smile returned to her face as she gently patted the girl's cheek. "There is no reason to apologize, my dear, just ensure that the job is done."

Sasha nodded her head quickly and waved towards the guards. The men sprang to life as they slammed their spears to the ground. Circe dropped us to the ground just as the guards had their arms around us. The young sorceress took the lead and began to march out at the lead. The guards holding us followed while the captain took the read, his sword pulled out of his scabbard as he continued to eye us.

She hit the button on the magic elevator and a moment later the golden doors slid open and we were muscled in. Sasha hit a button that was even lower than the floor we already were. Haren was the last one in, his large bulk doing a good job in blocking the door as we descend further.

Once we were descending, Sasha grinned viciously at me. "Don't think that just because you're not being killed that you're out of the woods. The dungeons aren't any place for you."

As she spoke, she fumbled for something in her pocket and began to hold it up to her face. I noticed that it was a clothespin which she placed on her nose. As the door open, the first thing I noticed was the smell. My body recoiled in horror as the sour scent hit me like a punch to the gut. I had worked on with different plants long enough to know what the smell of fertilizer was like. It was the unmistakable taste of animal waste, though this clearly wasn't being used as fertilizer.

My two friends were both reveling in disgust, their face scrunched into grimaces as they doubled over. Haren and his guards though seemed unaffected it though as they didn't even blink and marched us out. They kept their spears lowered though, and led us out. As we began to move around, I gasped as I saw the contents of the different cages. There were dozens of cells on each side of the room. But there were no humans in them, instead, there was nothing else except for pigs. Different kind of pigs from boars, hogs, and even guinea pigs. There were half a dozen of them in each cell. The cages clearly haven't been cleaned as there were mud and waste everywhere.

I looked back at Haren in disgust as I stared at the conditions of the different cages, but it was Sam who spoke up. She whirled around, managing to briefly get free from

"How could you keep these animals like this? It's just awful." Sam gasped out indignantly as she looked up at the guards.

None of the guards seemed at all moved and simply stared at her blankly. The closest thing to a reaction that she got was Haren moving towards her with his sword rising a few inches towards her cheek to get her to move. Sasha simply giggled and placed a hand to her lips playfully. "Oh that's cute my dear, you think that these creatures are animals. We would never treat real hogs this cruelty."

I remembered the myths about Circe and Odysseus and gulped deeply. But my shock was quickly replaced by red rage as I glared back up at her. "That's disgusting, how could you possibly do something like that?"

For her response, the young sorceress simply gave a hapless shrug. The casualness of the gesture only enraged her further. Soon enough we reached the end of the room and the guards began to open the door of the last cell. Thankfully this one was relatively clean and uninhabited. It didn't do anything to help with the smell, but it was lucky she supposed. Without another word, the guards shoved us inside and shut slammed the door behind us.

Sasha smirked and waved at us goodbye as she left with the guards. A few moments later she heard the elevator ding as the elevator made its way up. She stepped inside with Haren, leaving only the two guards to continue to watch over us. They took their position on either side of the elevator and kept their spears crossed over the door.

Yet they didn't do anything else and barely reacted to anything. It reassured me of what I did next. I turned around and threw my arms around Nathan, hugging him tightly. He grunted as the air whooshed out of him from my sudden gesture, but didn't protest and quickly began to return the gesture. Sam watched from the side and smiled at this.

After what felt like an eternity, I pulled away. My entire body screamed in protest as I did that, but it also cried out for what I needed to do as well. I slammed my fist right into his gut, causing him to double over. Sam gaped and looked out as he watched Nathan fall to his knees. Before he could open his mouth, I threw my hands in the air in exasperation. "What were you thinking Nathan? What made you think that it was a good idea to go here alone?"

He tried to speak, but I cut him off by raising my finger at him, silencing him with that gesture. "Do you know how u believably stupid and reckless this was? Of course, you did, we spent the entire night talking about it. Yet you still did it."

I began to pace around the cell floor, throwing my hands up and ranting for the next few minutes. I could already hear my voice rising up several octaves as I spoke, but I ignored it until I got everything I needed to say out. Once I was done, I glanced to Nathan's direction, panting slightly as I tried to catch my breath.

"Can I say something?" Nathan asked slowly, looking up at me. I glanced back at him and nodded my head.

"Thank you." He said, adjusting his posture so he could sit down comfortably. Nathan looked pretty banged up and I felt my heart bleeding for him. Part of me wanted to go and give him a big hug, but I forced myself to be restrained. "I know you were upset, I know both of you had your doubts. But after all, we went through do you think we should just turn back and leave?"

"No, that's not what we were saying," Sam said, shaking her head and looking from the spot she was standing in and facing him. "I mean we were willing to join you, but we shouldn't have just gone bursting in."

To emphasize her point, Sam gestured around to the cell we were in right now. I nodded my head in agreement and looked at her.

Nathan sighed and looked down at his feet miserably, sinking back down to the ground. "I'm sorry, I didn't want any of this to happen."

I felt my expression soften as I saw him like this and nodded. Slowly, I sat down beside him and sighed slightly, finding a relatively clean spot that was untouched before joining him. I placed my arms around him and nodded. "Listen, I really appreciate this and everything you've done. But right now we should just focus on getting out of here. Any ideas?"

Nathan shrugged helplessly. "We can't even get out of this cage."

"Well, we would have probably ended up here anyway," Sam said and stretched her arms, looking around the cage and glancing out to try and spot away out. "I guess we're stuck here until we find a way out though."

* * *

"Hey, hey there buddy," Sam said, sliding one hand through the bars and waving the guards over and trying to get their attention. Both guards turned to her, their faces like a stone as they regarded her blankly.

This didn't really discourage Sam as she grinned happily at them and continued to try and get their attention. She pressed her face against the bars to expose herself as much as she could. The daughter of Aphrodite winked and blew a kiss at them. "Come on, it must get lonely just standing there. Come and give me a little kiss. Don't be shy."

She continued to beckon the guard over, winking seductively as she waved at the guards over. Yet still, neither one of the guards budged and remained where they were. Nothing in the expression even changed as they simply glanced at each other before standing back once again and crossing their spears once again.

Sam ground his teeth together in frustration as she clenched her hand into a fist. She clearly wasn't used to being rejected like this and wasn't enjoying it. Under different circumstances, I would have found it pretty funny, but this time I had more important things on my plate.

I was seated in front of Nathan, hunched forward as we were brainstorming ideas. He was looking away towards one of the cell walls, rubbing his chin as he did. "Can you control the plants here? Like all those seaweed and cucumbers they use."

Closing my eyes, I tried to will myself to control the plants or at least get a feel of them. Unfortunately, we were too far deep underground for me to get any read of the plants. "Well, do you know where our weapons are? I mean maybe we can try and fight our way out."

"Well they probably kept it with the guards, but aside from that I don't really know." He shrugged helplessly.

"Come on why don't you want to get a kiss from me!" Sam snapped and angrily and started to shake the bars with her hands.

"Give it up to Sam, the guards aren't real humans," Nathan replied calmly as he gave her a quick glance towards her. Sam looked at her curiously and blinked. "I killed one of those guards when I broke in earlier, they seem to just be some sort of magical creation made by Circe."

She glared at him sharply. "And you could have told me that sooner, like before I spent twenty minutes trying to seduce them."

That brought a ghost of a smile on Nathan's face. He gave her a slight wink and gave her an apologetic look. "Well, it was pretty entertaining to watch."

Sam growled and scowled, which only served to make her look like a little angry puppy. Nathan's smile turned into a small grin as she looked like she was about to pounce on him. Before anything else could happen though, the elevator dinged and then slid open. A musical voice spoke up. "It certainly was my dear."

She glanced back and her scowl deepened. The daughter of Aphrodite's hand's grip tightened against the bars until her knuckles started to turn white. Sasha appeared in front of them, careful to remain just out of reach from them as she grinned down at them.

"What do you want?" I growled and gently grabbed Sam's shoulder to pull her face before she tried to grab the sorceress through the bars. I didn't ease my voice though and continued to glare at her as she looked down on us.

Sasha gasped placed a hand on her chest and pretended to be physically struck by the blow. "Now, is that the way to speak to someone when they take the time to visit you?"

"What do you want?" I repeated, not breaking my glare away from her. Behind me, I could feel?Nathan shifting his position as he made his way towards me and moved to my side.

The sorceress sighed. "Well, I simply came to ask you a few things."

I raised an eyebrow. "Things like what?"

"Like why you all came here?" She replied and took her seat. There was no chair behind her so I expected her to fall, yet her back and bottom were suddenly encased in a purple aura that left her levitating off the ground. She smiled and gestured for us to keep going, tapping her foot on the ground.

Nathan and I shared a look, mentally debating what to do, but eventually, he shrugged and spoke up. "We came here searching for the Golden Apple."

Sasha raised her eyebrow curiously when he heard this. The coy look on her face disappeared and was replaced by genuine curiosity. "Now why would you want a golden apple? Are the goddesses having another beauty contest again?"

"No, it's nothing like that." He replied calmly.

"Then what is it about?" She pursed her lips slowly. Her eyes narrowed as she seemed to get more curious. "What could you want with that little apple, and why get it here? There's an entire garden full of them. Why not just go to the garden of the Hesperides and pick a few for yourself?"

"Well, it's not that easy though. Zeus has forbidden anyone from going to the Garden of the Hesperides to pick the apples there. Something about complaints from the nymphs there. So we had to improvise and look for one still available that's already been picked."

"That still doesn't explain why you would need it." The sorceress said, crossing her legs as she looked at us. She waved her fingers in the air and a bright red apple materialized in her hand. "I certainly doubt any of you care about the magical properties it contains."

"Ignoring that insult," I leaned toward the bars and glowered towards her. I tried to get a feel of the apple powers. Maybe I could choke her with the seeds, but those thoughts quickly vanished as I failed to get a reading on it. Sasha simply smirked knowingly and took a bite from it. "My mother is asking for as homage, in order to get her blessing for me and Nathan to be together."

The last sentence gave Sasha a pause. She looked up at us, starting slowly in disbelief as if we had just spoken in another languid. The apple in her hand was a few inches from her mouth, yet now her hand slowly fell to her side. "You are truly doing this just to get a goddesses blessing? Going to all this trouble?"

Nathan glanced back and shrugged. "So? What about it?"

"Well, it just seems a bit of a pointless quest for me." She said, kicking her legs in the air. "Why waste all that time all for a relationship. It just seems a bit naive."

I felt a spark of anger go through me. "And what do you know about that!"

This only made Sasha smile even more. She took a few more bites from her apple and soon it was gone. She threw away the half-eaten apple into a fiery portal she summoned before getting up. "Not much about love, but I do know is that you are not going to get that apple."


	9. Chapter 9

**Nathan's POV**

As the hours ticked by, the mood in the cell grew increasingly somber. With morning only a short while away, even I felt my thoughts get darker. Even with nothing to do and with the cell in almost total darkness, I couldn't even get much sleep. It was only after sheer exhaustion that I finally managed to pass out.

Yet that didn't even last for more than a couple hours before I woke up once again. When I looked around, I saw the two girls were also seated up and wide awake. Evidently, they had some similar experiences.

"So what are we going to do?" I asked out loud to no one in particular. I looked around at the two girls, first to Katie who was just starting out from between the cell bars to the room beyond, then to Sam who was stared at her feet. She slowly looked up to face me and simply gave a hapless shrug.

"Then I guess this is it then," I said slowly, mostly because I felt bile building in my throat after each word was said.

Sam looked up at me again, she forced a smile on her face but I could see the despair in her eyes. It was clear that she was at her breaking point. "Well, I suppose there are also worse ways to go."

I found myself nodding to that. Slowly, I grunted and started to rise to my feet and walked over to her side before plopping myself next to her. I gave Sam a tight hug and sighed slowly. "I'm really sorry from bringing you into this. You didn't have to go here with me and I really appreciate it."

"Well, I mean dying for love isn't the worst way to go." She replied, trying to sound reassuring. Though as she spoke, Sam's voice broke a little. "I am a daughter of Aphrodite after all. My mom would be so proud of me."

"Maybe we're not dead just yet," Katie said suddenly just as I was going to open my mouth and say something. She kept her gaze still on the room beyond, but I could see her posture starting to straighten. Suddenly, she glanced back at us thoughtfully, mumbling to herself as she seemed busy thinking of something.

I couldn't make out much of what she was saying, but Katie was clearly getting excited about something. I raised an eyebrow curiously as I called after her. "Katie, what's going on? What do you mean by that?"

"Do you have something in mind?" Sam asked, sitting up straighter and some of the life returned into her voice.

"Well, not exactly," Katie said and frowned, shaking her head. She tapped her finger on her chin thoughtfully. "I was just thinking about something. I mean the guards took your bow and arrow Nathan, and your charmspeak won't work on the guards, Sam."

The two of us nodded, but Sam grinned, her first real smile since being sent in here. She leaned towards me and said. "She's plotting something."

"No, nothing like that," Katie said softly, but even I started to notice that there was a growing excitement to her voice. "I'm just saying, my power is still working and it gave me an idea."

I opened my mouth to ask, but before I could the elevator door dinged softly as they slid open. I moved towards the cell bars and slowly pushed my head against it to get a look at who arrived. It was Sasha. She was wearing a fresh robe that was cleanly pressed. The sorceress almost looked like she was floating as she made her way towards them. The guards slammed the shafts of their spears loudly, causing them to ring out against the room.

All three of us looked at the cell door as Sasha stood before us. She had her arms folded together and smirked down at them. She had a squad of guards at her back who kept their weapons ready. "I hope you all slept well because you have a bit of walking to do."

With that said, she pulled the cell door open with her magic. The guards filed into the room and hoisted us to our feet and leading us out. Katie was the first to move, raising her hands over her head as the guards prodded her back at spear point. She gave us a look, telling us to obey.

We didn't offer much of a fight and walked out with them. The guards leveled their spears and marched us out. Sasha took the lead, humming to herself as she marched. She was in a chipper mood and glanced back at Katie. "Circe has commanded me to give you one final chance to join her. She sees much potential in you, a strong leader and a gifted demigod."

"That's what she thinks, but I assume that's not what you think." Katie guessed.

"Well, if it were up to me I would have placed you in here with these creatures." She raised one long arm to gesture toward the pigs in one of the cells who glanced up from their food, gave uninterested oink and began to eat once again.

I felt my hands closed into a fist when I heard Sasha talking to Katie like that, but I forced myself to be silent. Sasha frowned and sighed. She gave a quick glance towards Sam. "But Circe seems insistent. She even offers to spare your friend here if you agree."

"How tempting," Katie responded dryly as we stopped in front of the elevator door. The guards crossed their spears in front of us as Sasha worked on bringing the elevator back down. "But can I ask what will happen to my other friend?"

She nudged her head towards me and Sasha wrinkled her nose in disgust. "You're seriously still trying to protect the boy? Well if you must know she plans on turning him into a pig, that part is not negotiable and something I quite agree with."

"Then I guess I still have to say no." Katie snapped back.

The door dinged open and we were hustled inside. Sasha seemed happy with that answer and nodded. "Be sure to tell Circe that, I'd love to see her blast you into a pile of ashes."

As the doors opened, we were greeted by the morning sun which shot its rays through the door. I was forced to shield my eyes as I marched out. I blinked once then opened them once again. The hall was alive with activity as close to two dozen other sorceresses were waiting for us. They were on either side of the hall, staring and muttering to each other as we walked by. A few even pointed and made faces at me as I passed them.

There was no sign of the guests though as we passed. It seemed like the recreational areas had been cleared out. The only ones there now were Circe's freaky guards who patrolled the premises with glowing red eyes or some of the employees cleaning up around the spa. Circe herself was waiting for us at the end of the hall. She stood there with her one hand behind her back and the other holding a staff. She was dressed in the same crimson robes as her attendants, but with gold trimmings at the border.

She smiled at us as we drew closer. It seemed friendly enough, but her eyes gave away the predatory look underneath. She watched us like a panther ready to pounce on its prey. When we reached her, she spread her arms open in a greeting. "Welcome. I'm sorry for the poor accommodations you had to endure, but I sincerely hope that it was enough to make you reconsider your previous decision."

"As I told your student here, that's a tempting offer, but I am afraid that I need to say no to that," Katie said defiantly. She took a step forward and moved to Sasha's side, and shaking my head.

Circe however, did not seem fazed at all. She took a step forward as well and smiled, the hand behind her back shifting around. I stiffened as I watched this happen, prepared to get in between Katie and her if I needed to, but instead the witch slowly started to pull something out. My eyes widened as I saw the golden apple right in her hand. Circe absently moved it around her palm as she looked at us. "I know you want this, but I can assure you that you will not get it. So tell me why do you still want to keep going on with this futile quest."

"Because we didn't sign up for this quest only to give up to the likes of you." I blurted out angrily and took a step forward.

Circe whirled around and gave me a severe look. Suddenly I felt the air around my body grow heavy, compressing against me. I tried to move but it was as if I were being entombed. I couldn't even fall down. "You truly are an imperious boy aren't you. I don't recall asking for your opinion when I spoke to my our friend."

"Leave him alone!" I heard Katie shout in protest. She surged forward but was stopped by two guards who grabbed her shoulders and pulled her back. Her shoulders sagged as she sighed. "Please, we need that for our quest."

"Yes, yes. I am well aware of your quest." Circe said dismissively as she waves her arm and the pressure around my body ceased. I nearly dropped to the ground had Sam not caught me and helped to my feet. "A foolish thing if you ask me."

"Of course you would say that, someone like you has never known what love means, whose never experienced it for herself." Sam said.

All the attendants turned to her, even Sasha looked surprised. Circe slowly turned to face Sam, her eyes looking like it was surrounded by storm clouds. She raised a finger to her face. "Be careful of what you do next my dear. I will not hesitate to turn you into a swine like the rest of them."

Sam pressed her lips together in a thin line and said no more. But slowly, her tongue started to push out from her lips. The witch raised an eyebrow at this. Then, Sam began to blow a raspberry at her. The daughter of Aphrodite tongue flicked up and down, sending spittle flying to her face. She managed to keep it going for close to a full minute which I honestly found more impressive.

When she and finished, Circe slowly wiped the spit on her face with the back of her hand. She pulled back and her eyes blazed dangerously as she raised her hands in the air. Raw magic crackled across her hands and between her fingertips. She prepared to strike her down, but before she could I threw myself forward in between them.

This only amused her judging but how her lips curved upwards. I closed my eyes and prepared for what was to come. A moment later, nothing happened.

I opened my eyes once again and looked around to see what happened. Circe was still standing right in front of me. One eye was twitching slightly as she had a piece of cucumber on her face. It slowly started to slip down, leaving a wet streak across her cheek.

I glanced to the side and saw Katie standing before her with both hands held up as she approached Circe. Neither she or her sorceress were able to do anything, they were too surprised to try. Only the guards reacted with enough speed. They lowered their spears down and pointed it at her, Haren roaring for her to stop at once as he pulled out his sword.

Katie didn't though, instead she raised her arms above her head and thrust them forward.

* * *

 **Katie's POV**

My eyes widened as I saw a volley of cucumber flying behind me and hitting Circe. Before the which could finish her spell, half a dozen slices of cucumber came flying across her face with enough force to send her stumbling back. Sasha opened her mouth to scream and some of the attendants moved to help, but before they could they themselves came under attack by the next salvo. They struck them as if they were bullets and threw the girls off their feet.

I didn't have any idea of how I was doing this, all I remembered was seeing Nathan and Sam in trouble then something just took over.

I felt a shadow looming behind me and quickly dove to the side just as Haren swung his sword. Its smooth arc would have taken my head off if i was a moment too late. He grunted and stepped forward. A cucumber was stuck in the small spot of unarmored flesh on his neck, but he ignored it.

He took another step, but Sam came out of nowhere and slammed her shoulder against him. Both of them tumbled to the ground. The whole room erupted in chaos now. Guards came rushing at me with their weapons drawn, but they ended up knocking against each other or tripping over fallen sorceresses.

Nathan had managed to roll away from Circe and got to his feet. He ran up to the nearest guards whose attention was so firmly fixed on me that he didn't even notice Nathan plucking his dagger from its sheath. He quickly jabbed it repeatedly into the man's neck.

The soldier let out a pained shriek that sounded like the static coming from a microphone before vanishing into dust. Nathan picked up the guards fallen weapons and looked left sure of himself with that spear and shield than with his bow and arrow.

His eyes widened as he saw me. "Katie, get down!"

Without thinking, I dropped my stomach just as a fireball whizzed over my head. It came from one of the few sorceresses who managed to stay on her feet. She summoned another one in her palms. I closed my eyes and willed the nearest plants to help me.

From the back of the room a roll of seaweed wrap flew and nailed her in the chest. The girl fell on her butt without a sound. As that was happening another sorceress was helping Sasha to her feet. As they stood up, Sasha pointed at us and giving the order to attack them. I waved my hand and the seaweed tilted around until it was floating vertically and flew towards them, wrapping their bodies together.

I heard the sound of fighting behind me and a moment later Nathan was at my back, his spear buried inside the chest of one of the guards. He swiftly pulled it out and the two of us stood back to back, fighting off whoever tried to get close. A short distance away, Sam had somehow managed to find a sword and was dueling with Haren. She didn't have much chance fighting him off with strength and was just dancing around him. With each step the guard captain took to advance, she took one back and remained out of his reach.

"We can't keep this up." Nathan leaned over to her ear and said as he raised his shield to block a fireball thrown at him. The flames struck the center of the shield then dissipated all around it, leaving the tips of his hair singed but otherwise ok.

I looked around and nodded. We had been lucky to survive long enough so far and that was and the fact that most of their enemies were on their backs instead of their feet. But now more and more of them started to get their bearings. The guards had started to form a ring around them with their shields, herding them towards the spa area.

I grabbed the knife at Nathan's side and before he could protest, threw it against the glass window that separated the spa from the pool. The spot where it hit formed a carck. From there it started to grow even more and caused the window to shatter. I grabbed Nathan's hand and started to run out with him.

"Come on." I shouted to Sam just as she ducked under another one of Haren's blows. This time though he was anticipating it and his blow was a feint. At the last second he pivoted his sword diagonally and sent it chopping down. It dug right into her shoulder, causing her to cry out in pain.

She bit her lip to try and fight the pain as the guard captain loomed over her. Sam tucked her legs to her chest and slammed them against the captain's chest. It caused Haren to stumbled back onto a table, but unfortunately his sword wobbled around in her shoulder, causing her to scream even more. I stopped only to scoop her up, letting Sam lean on me for support as I held Nathan with my other hand.

I braced myself and rammed my body against the weakened window which easily shattered against our combined weight. For a brief moment, we flew in the air and I felt like I could just float away. But it quickly passed as we hit the water below. I sunk like a rock, my body sinking and losing grip with my fellow demigods until it hit the bottom of the pool. When that happened, I opened my eyes and regained my senses. I started to thrash around and swam up to the surface.

I let out a loud gasp, taking as much air as I could. Once I felt the pressure in my chest lessening, I started to look around. Thankfully it seemed like the others were ok as they surfaced a moment later. Above me, I heard Circe yelling orders to someone but I couldn't quite make it out.

"I'd rather not stick around and hear what she's saying." I said out loud, splashing around the water and trying to head towards the pool steps. The others were right at my heels and Nathan climbed out of the pool a moment later, holding Sam tightly as she helped her up. When I looked back up at the window, archers were now lined in the broken window with their bows notched.

I placed Sam's other arm on my shoulders, careful not to strain it too much as I hurried my pace up just as the arrows started to hit the ground around us. A few guards started to emerge from the door with their spears and shields ready. We sprinted down the path beyond which led down the hill which the resort building was built on. Nathan panted as he adjusted Sam's arm on his shoulder. "We need to find some cover, we can't hope to outrun them."

I nodded my head in agreement, glancing at Sam. Her face was chalk white and her eyes started to glaze slowly. Even her breathing was shallow, slowly rising up and down. I doubted whether she could keep going as well. We changed courses breaking away from the path and instead heading to the side towards the forested areas beside it. We stumbled into the bushes. Nathan placed Sam down on the ground underneath a tree and let her back rest against it.

Behind them I heard the guards sprinting past them. Their footsteps tramped loudly against the concrete path, but quickly disappeared as they marched down the street. Once the sound disappeared, I let out a sigh of relief and leaned towards Sam. I placed a hand on her shoulder reassuringly. "How are you holding up?"

"Holding up there." She replied, giving her head a slight bob, though it was clear she wasn't in much of a position to move.

Nathan knelt down beside her and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a small ziplock back of Ambrosia that he had somehow managed to hide from the guards. He pulled out a small square and fed it to her. She quickly started to chew it, and as she did the color started to return to her face. "Thanks, that does feel a bit better."

"Well what should we do now?" Nathan asked and slowly put the baggy away. He still had his spear and shield with him, keeping it tightly. Sam had her sword as well, keeping it resting on her lap. Unlike them, I still didn't have a weapon. The dagger I had earlier was lost when I threw it out the window.

Still, when I closed my eyes, I felt the power coursing through my chest. I took a deep breath and channeled the powers of nature in me. When I opened my eyes, I felt much better now and started to get up. "I'll go have a look around."

"Be careful Katie." Nathan said and grabbed my shoulder. He looked at me with those big blue eyes and I felt my chest weaken. All I could manage to do is nod my head as a promise. Then, his hand reached behind my back and pulled me closer. I gasped slowly, stumbling against the uneven steps but he helped me keep my balance before kissing me.

I gasped and felt my eyes widened in surprise, but slowly my body relaxed and I began to kiss him back. It was quick and a bit awkward, but I savored every bit of it. When we finally pulled away, I stared right into his eyes with a wide smile.

"Its about time you did that." Sam said, interrupting us as she watched from her spot. She had her arms folded together and yawned.

"Alright," I said, shaking my head lightly. "I'm heading out."

Sam stopped her and from going for another moment. She gripped her sword and handed it back to her. "You might need a weapon."

I reached down then hesitated in taking it, she was already injured and the last thing I wanted to do was leave her without any means to defend herself. Sam simply smiled though and pressed it into my hand. Her smile had less pain though and she seemed to understand my concerns. "I'll be fine, Nathan here can protect me."

"Wait what?" Nathan said, looking back and forth at the two girls.

Sam simply rested her arms behind her bed and relaxed. "Ya, now chop chop bodyguard. I want some grapes."

Ya, your going to be fine." I said dryly before heading back out into the forest. I tied the scabbard to my side as I marched off.


	10. Chapter 10

**Katie's POV**

Under the shade of a tall tree, I got down on one knee and reached into my belt to the long dagger that was hanging there. I wiped it against my T-shirt until tue blade shone in my hands. With my other hand, I ran it across the trunk of the tree and then offered a quick apology to trees. Then, with all my strength I struck it into the trunk. I didn't stop pushing until the blade was hilt deep and embedded into the trunk.

I pressed my ear against the dagger and listened for any vibrations that might be given off. I glanced around, chewing my lip nervously as I searched for anything that might be a threat. Then I heard some vibrations. In one smooth gesture, I pulled Sam's sword out of its sheath, leaped to my feet, and whirled around to point it in the direction the sound came from.

As I did, a deer burst out from the bushes, a leaf still sticking out from its lips as it bolted away, heading deeper into the forest. I sighed with relief but mentally scolded myself for being too jumpy. Sheathing the sword, I shut my eyes and took a few deep breaths. Once I felt some of the worry in my chest disappear, I opened my eyes again and began to listen for vibrations once again.

After five minutes I still heard nothing and the restless feeling in my chest started to grow once again. It became harder for me to focus as images Sam and Nathan laying wounded kept filling my mind. I shook my head to try and get those images out, but the unease didn't go anywhere. Sighing slowly, I wrapped my hands around the blade and slowly began to tug it out. I grunted slowly as it took quite a bit of effort to pull it free.

Once she had it out, I placed a hand on the tree and offered my thanks to the tree before starting head out. It wouldn't be too difficult for me to find my way. I didn't venture off too far from our makeshift camp, I was maybe a quarter of a mile out. I started to take a few steps towards them when I heard some leaves rustling behind me.

I stopped in my tracks and leaned towards the source in the sound. It happened again and I glanced back in that direction. As I searched around the area but saw nothing, there was too much foliage for me to see properly. I blinked several times and took a step towards the source of the sound. The more logical part of me was telling me that it was probably just another dear, but my worry won over and I started to make my way towards it.

I pulled a few inches off steel out from my sheath once again and began to jog over there. I kept my head low as I moved and tried to take cover behind the trees as well. Slowly drawing closer to the source of the sound, it was the sound of footsteps crunching against the leaves.

I stopped behind a large palm tree nearby and looked beyond. Just a few feet beyond was a pair of guards. They were dressed in full armor, armed with spears and shields as they walked through the forest. I allowed myself a small smile as I saw this. Their Spears would be of little good in the tight forest spaces. I waited for them to draw a bit closer before closing my eyes and starting to commune with the nearby plants.

I felt a tingling sensation as I felt one of the vines answering my call. Another plant soon tugged into my consciousness and even more. Waving my hand slowly, it began to creep along the ground and wrapped around a guards ankle. He grunted in surprise as he lifted his leg out, the fine dangling around his foot. The guard grunted in annoyance and shook his leg around.

As he did that, I sprinted out, pulling my sword the rest of the way out. The guard looked up just as I swung my sword at him in a smooth arc and took his head off. As I pulled my sword back, the other guard growled in its deep guttural voice, completely unaffected by the death of his companion. I raised my sword and brought it down on him. He raised his shield to deflect my attack. Under his shield, he thrust his spear out to try and disembowel me.

I whirled to the side and just barely managed to dodge it. I willed some leaves to life and sent them flying towards the remaining guard. None of them managed to penetrate his armor, but one did land right in front of his visor. As the guard tried to shake it off, I drove my sword right under his armpit where the armor wasn't protecting him.

His grunt became a surprised wheeze. Slowly, the guard looked down at me. His cat-like, yellow eyes stared down at me, unblinking and seemingly more surprised than pained. He dropped his spear to the ground with his remaining hand then began to reach for the sword on his belt.

I thought quickly, closing my eyes and shoved my sword upwards, not giving him the chances to finish. It cut through flesh and bone as it rended upwards. A second later I felt it pull free from any obstacle, its momentum carrying it upwards. I stumbled back and brought it close to me.

When I opened my eyes, the warrior was still standing in front of me, one arm on the ground while the other had its fingers wrapped around the hilt of his sword. Without a word, the guard fell to one knee and dissipated into a pile of dust.

I felt my heart pounding in my chest as I nervously stepped back. I kept my sword pointed at the guard even as the dust landed on my feet. Taking a few more deep breaths, I wiped my sword clean and started to turn around, just a torrent of wind came blowing at me with enough force to send me sprawling back on the ground.

I rolled on my back and glanced up to see Sasha hovering in the air ten feet above me. She had a predatory grin on her face as she slowly floated down, both her arms raised above her head as she was channeling more wind. At her side was a slim scepter hanging from her robes. "I see you feel for my trap."

My gaze moved towards the two guards who by now were reduced to nothing but empty sets of armor, any dust that was left was now blown away by the sorceress. Sasha stopped a foot from the air. "Its a shame though that you were alone without, but no matter, I'll be sure to find your friends soon enough when I am done with you."

I winced, gritting my teeth as I tried to climb to my feet. A numb pain spread from my left leg as I lifted it up. I tried to ignore it though and began to focus on the trees around me, particularly the ones behind Sasha.

The trees tugged at my consciousness, responding to my call. I could hear the leaves gently blowing against the wind, blowing towards Sasha. I opened my eyes and saw the branches move towards her. Apparently, so did Sasha. She whirled around and sent a plume of flames towards the first branch that lunged at her.

It caught the fire head-on and immediately caught alight. The second branch was able to dodge and moved towards her legs. Sasha saw this as well and sent a blast of icy wind at it, freezing half of the branch. The ice started to spread around just as she pulled her mace out and smashed it to a million fragments.

As she did that, I raised my sword up to prepare and defend myself when Sasha suddenly whirled around and flung her specter at me. Stars burst across her vision as she felt the mace hit her right across the chest. I stumbled back and felt my back hit a tree. When I opened my eyes, my vision was still blurry. I opened my mouth and gasped for air.

The scepter slowly started to rise from the ground. It tilted around until the hilt was facing her and flew right back into sorceress's hands. Sasha dropped to the ground in front of her and grabbed her by the front of her shirt. She raised her mace and pulled it back, ready to bring the final blow.

I tried to shake my confusion off, then wrapped my legs around her waist. Sasha's eyes widened in surprise, but before she could do anymore I twisted my legs, causing her to lose her balance. She fell face first to the ground with a heavy thud. Now that both of them were on the ground, I jabbed my fist at her stomach before squirming away.

I was already on my feet by the time Sasha managed to regain her bearings. As she shook her head, trying to shake off the confusion, more vines had already started to crawl up and wrap around her. Slowly, she flicked her wrist and burned away the first vine. Wiping the dirt from her face, Sasha looked up and sneered at me.

She held up her hand, electricity coursing between her fingertips as she regarded me with utter disgust. I held my sword up, ready to defend myself as we circled each other. "I'm disappointed most of all, Katie. Circe sees so much potential in you before you turned her down. However, all I see is a foolish, immature little girl. I will never know what she saw in you, but I'll be sure to make sure there's none left when i am done here."

With that said, Sasha thrust her hand forward, sending a bolt of lightning shooting from each fingertip. I forced myself to stare it down as I summoned a tree to my side. One of the smaller trees suddenly tilted to one side as if it were made of rubber. Its trunk bent until it formed a barrier in front of me. Each bolt of lightning connected with it and caused the tree to go up in an explosion of bark and flames.

The whole clearing was now showering with dying embers and burnt out leaves. Sasha looked at her hands then to me, surprised that I was still standing there. She nodded her head slowly. "An impressive little trick, Katie. But it will not save you again."

Sasha growled and began to sketch another spell around. I bit my lip and didn't give her the chance to continue chanting. I pulled my sword back and started to push through the middle even as the still smoldering. I hissed in pain as half a still steaming leaf landed on my side, but I ignored the pain and moved further.

Sasha's eyes widened as she saw me charging at her. Slowly, she started to raise her hands to protect herself. More leaves and embers continued to fall on my, but I ignored them and swung my sword upwards in an uppercut. The sorceress moved back to avoid the attack, stumbling back as she did and causing her back to knock against the tree. Her scepter came back and managed to block my next attack. The two weapons connected with a loud clang.

The blow stopped my attacks dead in its tracks. Sasha raised her other hand and sent plumes of fire shooting at me. I ducked underneath it and lunged at her, tackling her against the tree once was enough force to knock the air out of her, but Sasha continued to raise her weapon to bring down on me.

I placed my hand against the tree and started to will it to life before pushing myself away. I looked up and saw a vine had wrapped itself around Sasha's arm. She grunted and tugged at it furiously. The vine started to coil around her entire arm like a snake coiling itself around its prey. Sasha took a quick breath and began to summon her magic. I could see a single plume of steam starting to rise up from the vine. I summoned more, knowing that if she got free it would be fore nothing.

Another roughly wrapped itself around her leg. It broke Sasha's concentration as she tried to kick the next vine away. I allowed myself a small smile as I started to summon more of the tree. The bark itself seems to have opened up around Sasha in order to swallow her up. It started to emerge at her legs and clamp around them. The sorceress growled and started to shake around, but I could see the panic growing in her eyes.

She looked up at me, trying to force her magic back. I snapped my fingers which caused the tree to begin absorbing her hand. The bark easily snuffed out the fire starting to form on her hand before beginning to consume her.

By now the tree had started to spread all over her body. Only her head was left free by the great tree. I placed one foot on the exposed roots, looking down at her coldly. As our eyes met, I could see a mutual understanding come cross between us. She would not ask for mercy and I would not be giving it. Instead, she simply began to open her mouth to speak. The words that came out were hoarse and cracked, but still perfectly understandable. "More are coming for you."

I pursed my lips together and snapped my fingers. This caused the last of the bark to finally cover her face. As soon as that was done, I felt all my exhaustion return at once. I nearly fell over and just barely caught my balance on the tree. I allowed myself only a short moments respite before staggering to my feet and looking back to the forest. It wouldn't be too difficult to find my way back from here.

* * *

 **Nathan's POV**

"You're looking a lot better now Sam." I said encouragingly. I gave her a shaky smile and tried to sound upbeat.

"Ya, ya don't patronize me." Sam replied, rolling her eyes slowly as she looked away. She sat to my left and leaning on a true. It was true though, there was a bit more color in her face and there was less pain in her eyes as she moved around. "Now I think it's time that you take a rest."

I blinked at her in confusion. "What are you talking about? I've just been sitting down here for the past half hour."

Sam wasn't so easily convinced and simply looked at me. "Ya, and you've been sitting here fletching that same arrow for the past five minutes."

I glanced down to my lap where I had an arrow resting there. There I realized that my hands continued to run across the goose feathers on it. I flushed and quickly placed it back into my quiver before stating to pull out another arrow whose feathers weren't quite aligned. I started to adjust this one now. "So, I'm just getting ready in case we're being attacked."

It was an easy lie to make. A few minutes after Katie had left on her patrol, Inheard a few voices nearby, took deep and memacing to be Katie. A pair of guards had wandered too close to their camp. Thankfully they weren't expecting us to go right at them and I was able to claim the bow that now rested at my side as a reward.

"Right." Sam replied dryly, nodding he head. I could practically feel her rolling her eyes at that. I felt my grip tighten around the arrow shaft though as I ran my hand across it. When I looked down, I saw that the fletchings were even messier now. Cursing myself, I began to adjust it once again.

The Daughter of Aphrodite's expression softened slightly as she saw this and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Hey, I didn't say it was wrong though. I mean she probably feels the same way. But you should take a break first, think of yourself for a bit."

I sighed slowly and slumped against the tree, placing the arrow back in its quiver. I looked up in the sky, watching a flock of birds flying overhead. I absently strung my bow string as I tried to take my mind about Katie by taking a few deep breaths. I closed my eyes and felt the tension in my chest begin to cease.

It lasted only a few moments before I opened my eyes and began to worry once again. I began to think of where she might be and looked around nervously. Before I could get up, Sam placed a hand on my chest and gently pushed me back to the ground. "Alright, it looks like you could use a little help with this. So why don't you just listen to me and do as I do. Does that sound good?"

When I nodded my head, Sam smiled and pulled her hand away. She sat up and rested her back against the tree. She looked so dignified and tranquil as she placed her hands on her lap and closed her eyes. She gestured for me to follow as well before speaking up. When my eyes were shut, she began to lead me through a guided meditation. She started us off with some breathing exercises, taking a few deep breaths. As we went through it, I felt my chest began to feel lighter.

The next exercise in their guided meditation. She began to craft a peaceful image of the beach, describing it in great detail from the clear open seas to the white sand beaches. "Now, picture Katie sitting there on a beach mat. She's relaxing on the beach and calling you over."

I nodded, feeling a smile form on my lips as I pictured myself just beyond the beach in a cabana. I watched as Katie sat up in her blue swimsuit. There was a small cooler at her side and the waves crashed onto the shore just a foot away from her mat. She waved her hand happily and beckoned me over. She then patted the side of the mat, inviting me to sit beside her. I quickly got up and began to jog over to her, waving back at her and took my place at her side.

I grinned at her and reached into the cooler to pull out a can of rootbeer. I clicked it open and brought it up to lips to take a drink, but Katie stopped me and pushed the can down as I prepared to take a sip. She started to lean forward, her lips puckered up. I closed my eyes, ready to take the kiss-

"Guys, guys we need to go!" Katie's voices ripped through the jungles and knocked me out of my fantasy. Suddenly, I was back in the jungle, Katie bursting out of some of the shrugs. Her eyes were wide with a slightly wild look in her eyes while her chest heaved up and down.

With speed that surprised even me, I had my bow out and an arrow noticed on the string. I pointed it past her shoulder and was ready to take anything that , right have followed her. Katie however, raised a hand up as a gesture for me to stop while using the other to lean on a free for support. Her body curled forward as she tried to catch her breath.

Sam grunted and reached up to hand her a water bottle. She winced in pain as she had to lean forward. Katie took the bottle with a grateful now. She uncorked it and quickly began to drink down most of its contents. She handed it back after wiping her lip. By now Katie seemed a good deal calmer and managed to speak. "No one is after us, but we need to leave now."

I lowered my bow slightly, but I kept the arrow notched nonetheless. Even Sam who was still seated had her hand fingering a nearby rock, ready to throw it anyone stupid enough to cross her. "What's going on?"

"I ran into Sasha while I was out on patrol. She nearly killed me, but I managed to get rid of her." Katie explained, her words coming out a mile-a-minute. I nodded my head, not bothering to ask how she got rid of her. The grim look in her eyes told me more than enough of what happened. "But before I finished her off, she told me that there are more people coming."

Sam bit her lip, her nails scraping off against the surface of the rock. She pressed her lips together and pulled the rock tightly. "Could she be lying?"

"I'd rather not sit around and find out." Katie replied quickly and glanced towards the forest once again. She then turned to me with an imploring look in her eyes. She began to kneel down and speak slowly. "Nathan."

I turned to her with my brows furrowed. Looking down at her hand wrapped around mine, and then started to hold it as well. "I'm here."

"I know, I just think its best that we leave now." Katie began to explain, saying exactly what we were both thinking. She looked away and shook her head. "I know that you want to stay and get that golden apple, but I don't think we can anymore. I know how much this means to you and how you want to-"

"We should leave." I said in agreement, interrupting her before she could say anymore. This brought Katie short and she slowly stared at me in surprise. Sam joined in and blinked twice in surprise.

"Really?" Sam spoke up first, raising an eyebrow.

I nodded my head in agreement. I offered my hand up to Katie who gratefully took it and got to her feet. I did the same for Sam who grimaced and grunted loudly as she got up. She dusted dirt from her jeans and kept the rock in her hands.

Looking at both of them, I saw how tired and hurt they looked. It caused bile to form in my throat and a knot to form in my chest. "I do, at this point we've already lost too much just trying to get the apple. We're in no position to try and make another go at it."

I squeezed Katie's hands tightly. "We'll find another way."

The relief was plain in her eyes. She closed her hands and nodded her head slowly. "Thank you, now come on. We should get going."

Katie took Sam's arm under her shoulder, letting her lean on her for balance as she started to help the wounded girl walk. I took my position behind them and watched their flank. I kept my arrows ready just in case something tried to attack them. Katie directed us towards the beach where we left the beach.

Somehow, Katie seemed to remember just exactly where to go and announced directions for us to take as we walked. I'm not sure if it was because she memorized the route or the trees were helping her or something. I didn't question it though and just followed along.

Our progress was still slow though as Katie had to slow her pace down in order not to put too much strain on Sam as she walked. Despite this, the Daughter of Aphrodite whined in protest, insisting that she was perfectly capable of walking on her own. That didn't stop her from almost falling on her though when Katie loosened her grip.

About ten minutes in my fingers started to ache from keeping my arrows notched. I didn't dare take it off though. Each sound from the forest almost seemed to be taunting me to shoot at them. Most of it was fairly harmless, some leaves blowing in the wind, branches snapping against each other, the sound of an animal bounding away. But from time to time I swore I could hear the sound of armor clinging against each other or of a sword being drawn. It made sure that I didn't lower my guard.

Eventually though, I felt a light begin to shine at my back. I made sure the coast was clear before I slowly spun around. A grin slowly formed on my face as I saw the forests edge just beyond. Light eminanted from the end and invited us forward. It was only a few hundred yards away by the looks of it.

Both Katie and Sam looked equally relieved and quickened their pace ever so slightly. I kept close behind them, my fingers twitching slightly as the burning feeling started to get stronger. I only relaxed them once the first rays of sun hit me. I didn't, t realize how much I missed its warm touch, the tickling sensation on my skin. I lowered my weapon and spread my arms out to take it. I wasn't sure if it was the Apollo DNA in me, but I decided to never take the sun for granted again.

Sam quickened her pace to head towards the beaches. She let out a soft gasp in pain from the strain, but she worked past the pain and kept going until she almost fell to the surf. Katie chuckled and pulled her back, dusting some sand from her hair. The coastal wind blew hard against her causing her hair to get swept all around. I smiled softly as it was something straight out of a movie.

I followed after them, relaxing my bow arm and slowly placing the arrow back into its quiver. "Well, that's the hard part done, but how do we get back to the ship?"

"We should just follow the beach and we'll eventually run into Sea Bitch." Sam suggested. Her eyes were wide with excitement as she seemed eager to get free. She began to lean less from Katie. They began to move ahead in one direction. I started to walk after them, rolling my shoulders and looking at the forest one more time. I offered a silent prayer of to Apollo, thanking him for getting me out of there.

Unfortunately, their new vigor did not last very long. The afternoon heat started to take its toll on us, especially Katie who already had to deal with Sam. They were trudging on the ground their feet sinking in the sand. Even I was struggling to keep going. I wiped my brow which was now drenched in sweat. Yet as I looked around, I saw no sign of the ship.

I was about to open my mouth and speak, but a sound cut it off. In the distance I could hear the sound of barking. It caused me to pause and searched around. Whatever that was certainly didn't sound human. The girls stopped at well and slowly turned towards the forest. They exchanged nervous glances as I slowly began to ready my bow.

"Hellhounds." Katie frowned and shook her head. "We should keep going."

That didn't broker any arguments with the rest of us. We didn't get very far though before some of the bushes burst open and a hellhound leaped out from the bushes. It sniffed the air and began to growl slowly. Once its gaze fell upon us it started to bare its teeth and bounded at us. As it burst out, another followed shortly after by two more.

"Run, run!" I shouted and started to push Sam and Katie to get them moving. Both girls began to hobble forward, trying to get away. I didn't follow them right away and instead I casually drew an arrow from my quiver. I dropped to one knee and loosed.

It struck the first hellhound right between its eyes and sent it rolling to the sand. The other two howled in fury and quickened their pace. Behind them I could hear voices shouting over the forest. "Shit."

I readied another arrow and took aim. By now more hell hounds had started to emerge, as well as Circe's soldiers. One of them pointed his spear at me and the others began to form up. I lowered my bow and cursed. There was too many of them for me to take.

Instead, I began to close my eyes and prayed to my father.


	11. Chapter 11

**Nathan's POV**

Almost like a sign, the suns rays seemed to get stronger and I could feel its heat gently tickling my skin. I swallowed a breath and pulled the arrow to my chin. Not bothering to open my eyes, I let loose. I opened my eyes and watched the arrow fly. It didn't go anywhere near either of the Hellhounds though. Instead, it landed in the sand in front of them. The arrowhead disappeared into the sand and neither Hellhound even stopped to look at it.

A moment later though, the sand around the arrow burst in an explosion of blinding light. It sent both Hellhounds flying in the air. One tumbled to the ground a few feet away from him. It rolled around in the sand, trying to right itself. Before he could though, I took aim with a fresh arrow and put a shaft into its stomach. The other was was thrown several feet backwards.

They voices still continued to shout from the forests, but by now they were stricken with surprise and panic. I could make out some of the officers trying to restore order amongst the soldiers. The hellhound barked and tumbled to the ground, biting the air as it tried to regain its bearings. I didn't waste my time trying to kill it and sprinted after the others.

Sam and Katie were still running. They were almost just dots in his line of sight, but there was another dot in the distance, this was slightly bigger and more sleeker. Their lifeboat!

I risked a glance back. I saw the hellhound slowly shaking its head to regain its bearings. It shook its head vigorously before starting to bound after him. By now there were other figures starting to emerge behind it. More hellhounds came spriting after him, along with some of Cerci's soldiers who were shouting and pointing in our direction.

I gulped and redoubled my efforts to run, quickening my pace. My feet sank into the sand up to my ankles. It shifted beneath my feet and nearly tripped me over more than once, despite that I didn't dare slow my pace. I slowly began to close the distance between them. By now the two of them were starting to climb onboard the ship. Katie started to push the ship back into the water while Sam waved her hand and shouted frantically for me to catch up.

Closing my eyes, I pushed myself further. I was about thirty feet away when more guards emerged from the forests. These ones were much closer to the boast. They must have cut through the forest to reach them. Haren was amongst them and waved his sword angrily as he lead the charge.

Sam growled angrily, grinding her teeth together. She slowly climbed out of the boat and drew her sword. I drew my arrow and prepared to fire, but stopped myself. Something told me that she wanted him for herself. Instead, I took aim at one of the other guards and struck him in the neck.

Haren growled and the two swords met each other in a flash of sparks before they pulled away. They glared at one another before charging at one another once again. Around them the guards streamed past them, ignoring Sam altogether. Katie gasped and raised her weapon defensively, but then began to close her eyes. Seaweed burst out from the sea and grabbed the nearest two guards. They gasped, screaming in protest before being pulled underwater. The nearest guards backed away in surprise. Katie readied herself and walked towards them slowly.

Cursing, I readied another arrow and took another man under his armpit. I reached for more arrows in my quiver when I felt the ground explore at my side. I felt my body thrown up in the air, and the next thing I felt was my body slamming against the hot sand. Groaning, I dragged myself forward with one hand. I managed to pull myself forward a few feet before rolling on my back and looking at what happened.

That's where I saw her standing over me. Circe glared down at me with a bemused look on her face. She casually strode forward onto the sand. "I will admit that I was not expecting you heroes to put up such a strong fight, but the chase is over now."

"It is." I agreed, and as quickly as I could, I tried to pull an arrow free. My hand barely reached behind my back when Circe struck. She waved her hand and instantly I felt an invisible force coil around my arm, squeezing it until I let out a scream. The coil tightened even more as I was lifted off the ground.

A cruel smile played on her face as she pulled out a curved dagger from the folds of her robes. She flipped it in the air then caught it by its hilt. "I will enjoy this greatly."

To my side, I heard Sam screaming then her running towards us. She only made a few steps before Haren tackled her and the two went tumbling into the sand. I opened my mouth to yell, but the coils choked any air I had in my lungs and all that escaped was a faint whimper.

Katie summoned more seaweed. A dozen green stalks, each thick as my arm burst out from the water. She directed them by thrusting her hand in Circe's direction and each one flew forward like a laser guided missile. The sorceresses however, snapped her fingers and summoned a pillar of fire.

It burst out right on top of the seaweed, roasting them alive. The plants curled up as they were burned to ashes. Katie's eyes were as wide as saucers when she saw this, but before she could make any moves, the guards were upon her. She raised her sword and struggled to block their attacks.

Circe sighed and turned her attention back to me. She held the dagger up to my cheek. I felt the cold still dig into my flesh, pushing against it until it broke skin. A line of blood started to trickle down. My blood ran cold as I tried to inch my face away but she wouldn't let me.

Without thinking, I thrust my head forward. I was dimly aware of the blade slicing along my cheek as I bit down on her arm. The magic holding my other arm moved to hold me back, causing pain to flare up on it as I stretched it forward I clamped my teeth with all my strength, growling as I moved my head back and forth.

I tasted the metallic taste of blood in my mouth as my teeth sunk in. The sorceress screamed and tried to pull her hand arm away. In her effort, she dropped her dagger to the ground. It scraped up against my cheek as it fell. I felt the tension in my arm loosen which was followed by a strong blow to my stomach.

I dropped to the ground on all fours, coughing and hacking loudly. I crawled on the ground, grunting just as a strong gust of wind blew at me. My body slowly began to get pushed back, but another strong wind sent me flying. I landed into the water with a loud splash. Salty water filled my lungs as it all closed around me. The water wasn't particularly deep though and I felt my back hit the sandy shore.

Thrashing around in the water, I forced myself to surge upwards. My head broke through the top of the water and I coughed loudly, spitting some water out. Circe glared at me venomously, blood dripping from her arm. She stared at me with such hate that it could melt ice. She began to wave her hands around, moving them more like a dance. As she did, I felt the water churn around me, forming a whirlpool which spun around wildly.

I splashed around, trying to swim away. It was too late though as I felt the current suck me in. I screamed out, spinning around wildly. My mind started to blur as I racked my brain for an idea, but any ideas were knocked out by the current. My heart raced and threatened to burst from my chest. Slowly, the water began to rise up from the ground and form into a hurricane.

It kept going for a full minute before it tossed me in the air. I hit the sand right in front of Circe. Her high heeled shoes tapped on the ground impatiently in front of me. Something dropped beside them. I looked up and saw it was the Golden Apple. "Are you looking for this?"

One foot rose up and came down hard on the apple, crushing it underfoot. Circe grinded her foot around a bit more to send the point home. "Opps."

I looked up slowly, wincing as my entire body felt like it was hit by a train. Circe loomed over me with a nasty smile, the cut on her arms was still bleeding and now painted it red. She still had a dagger in hand and held it at a reverse grip.

As she brought the weapon down, my hand reached up and grabbed her wrist. I looked up at her, my eyes having a hard time focusing on her. My hand trembled slightly as I struggled to hold her dagger back as Circe tried to push it through the last few inches. I pushed it aside so it stuck itself into the ground.

I started to get to my feet, my legs shaking heavily and knocking against each other. I tried to shake off my disorientation as I pulled out my sword from its sheath. I held it up into a defensive position. Looking around, I tried to see how my friends were doing. Katie had managed to fight off the guards as now there were half a dozen empty suits of armor surrounding her. She moved to help Sam who was struggling to hold back Haren's assault.

I turned my attention back to the sorceress just as she came charging at me with her dagger, swinging wildly. I blocked her attacks, grunting as my leg screamed at me in protest and nearly gave way beneath me. I managed to stay up though and riposted, aiming my sword at her heart.

Circe raised her hand, summoning a wall of magic against it. My sword struck against and reflected off. She winced in pain as it was her bad arm but thrust it forward, sending me reeling back. "Give it up little hero, your quest is a failure. Just accept your fate and I will be merciful."

In response, I unleashed another flurry of attacks at her. Circe casually blocked each one and began to push back, driving me back step by step with almost graceful thrusts of her weapon. Even with my longer blade, she seemed to not have much of a problem getting through my defenses. Eventually, she brought her dagger into a vicious swipe along my wrist and leaving a long cut that forced me to drop my sword.

I gripped my wrist tightly, grimacing in pain as blood seeped through my fingers. When I looked up, I saw Circe staring back at me with a predatory grin. She had her dagger ready, preparing to strike. Before she could however, Katie appeared out of nowhere and rammed her shoulder against the older women.

Circe toppled to the ground, but Katie managed to stay upright. She was covered in sand and dirt, and a long cut tore through the front of her shirt along with a few smaller wounds. She was breathing hard but seemed to be well enough.

"Come on, we need to get out of here." Katie said, slamming the flat of her weapon against Circe's head. The sorceress's head rolled around before falling into the sand. I watched her fall and let Katie drag me away. I didn't argue or try to stop her. Instead, I just took a deep breath and followed. There was no way we could beat them. I looked and Circe and felt a shiver down my spine. Despite our fight she didn't seem at all tired, she still looked like she could go another five rounds with us.

I quickly turned away and jogged behind Katie. Sam was sitting on Haren's chest, repeatedly smashing a rock against his helmet until he dissolved into ash. She looked up and quickly followed after as we spirited away.

We pushed the boat into the water, letting the tides do the rest. As we jumped in, Sam picked up the oars and handed one to me. The two of us began to row like hell, trying to put as much distance between us and the island. Our boat slowly began to ride out of view, just as Circe got up and rose to her feet. She watched us go before prompt summoning a bolt of lightening towards us.

The bolt streaked through the air and missed our boat by a few inches. Instead it struck water beside us, causing the rowboat to rock around. Katie gripped the side of the boat to try and regain her balance. She looked over my shoulder with wide eyes. Sam and I redoubled our efforts to try and get out of here. We put everything we got into rowing, driving our ship out of there.

Circe launched a few more bolts of lightning and fireball at us. Thankfully none of them hit the boat, though one lightning bolt grazed the side of the boats hull and caused a small fire to break out. Katie quickly put it out by splash water on it.

Thankfully the lighting bolts stopped falling. I risked a glance back and saw Circe standing on the shore. She hadn't moved an inch, but she wasn't attacking anymore. Any of her surviving men ran up to join her on the shore. They made no move to attack us or persu though. It seemed like we were out of range.

I sighed with relief and started to slow my rowing. Sam did the same and nearly slumped on deck. I didn't realize how tired I was until I stopped. My exhaustion soon came crashing back down. I fell back on the boat, nearly passing out from exhaustion. Katie caught me though and fed me some Ambrosia.

She gave me a quick peck on the lips and smiled. "Thank younfor everything."

I blinked slowly in surprise. Nodding my head slowly, I chewed the small square and swallowed, savoring the taste of brownies. I reached up and held her hand tightly. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to get the golden apple, and most of all I'm sorry that I dragged you through all this. This is all my fault."

"Well, its not like we would have had anything better to do this weekend." Sam replied, one hand resting on the side of the boat. She attempted to put on a weak smile, but she quickly dead the room and sighed. "Listen Nathan, I'm the daughter of Aphrodite. If there's one thing I learned, it's that love is worth it."

Katie sat beside her and nodded. "The fact that you would go this far just to impress my mother shows how much this means to you and how much you care about me. I would be a fool if I wasn't prepared to share this burden with you."

I found myself speechless as they said this. I could only nod my head slowly and relax on the floor. I took a short break to let my arms relax before picking up the oar and starting to row once again. Thankfully _Sea Bitch_ was still right where we left it. The ship was anchored and we quickly climbed aboard.

Katie was the first to the top. She scrambled up the ladder and headed towards the bridge to power up the engine. Sam was about to take her place on the machine gun turret, but I grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her back. When she looked at me, I slowly shook my head and instead gestured for her to the decks below to get some rest.

Sam glared at me unhappily. For a moment she looked like she might protest, but eventually the exhaustion got the better of her. The fatigue was plain in her eyes and she nodded her head. Turning at her heel, she started to march downstairs.

Soon enough _Sea Bitch_ started to roar to life and drifted around the water. It spun around and turned to the opposite direction. It quickly began to cut through the waters and started to ride across the water. I was tempted to join Sam below decks and get some rest. But for some reason I couldn't go quite yet. Instead, I just sat down beside the staircase.

I closed my eyes, letting myself feel the ship bob against the waves. I felt it pick up speed as we hurried away and bounce from the water. Taking a deep breath, I tried to calm myself down. Despite my best efforts, I still felt an aching sensation spreading across my chest. It burned hot and gave a sense of failure.

Because of that, I barely even registered the sound of footsteps thumping against the wooden floor. It came from below deck and steadily grew louder. Then, it suddenly stopped. When I opened my eyes once again, I found myself staring at Sam's sneakers.

"When you told me to go down below deck, I kind of assumed that you would be following after me." Sam remarked dryly as I looked up. She had her hands folded together and an eyebrow raised.

I sighed and sat up, adjusting my posture. "Sorry, I just needed some time to myself."

"To think?" Sam guessed and rolled her eyes. Without another word she grabbed my wrist and pulled me up. "I learned that you can do that very well with someone to bounce ideas off you. Now come on."

This time, Sam didn't go down right away. Instead she folded her arms together and waited for me to join her before heading down. As we descended down the steps, she gestured for me to speak. "Come on, lets walk and talk. Whats up?"

"You know what's up." I replied, trying to keep my voice from sounding sullen. I don't think I did a very good job as Sam gave me a sidelong look. "I just wish we could get the apple though."

She nodded her head sympathetically. "Listen, I know you're upset about it, but you should be grateful we're all here."

"I know." He agreed and sighed softly. "I'm just wondering what I should tell Demeter."

Sam tapped her chin thoughtfully. A moment later, she slowly began to smile. "Oh, I think I might have an idea."

* * *

"So, this is the Golden Apple?" Demeter remarked skeptically. She had a magnifying glass in her hands which she was using to inspect the apple in front of her. She leaned in closer to try and get a better look on it.

"Yes ma'am." I replied, fiddling with my fingers together as I watched her work. Katie stood beside me, placing a reassuring hand on my shoulder. I looked back and her and gave her a grateful nod.

Sam nodded her head and smiled sweetly. "We can assure you that this is the Golden Apple. I saw it myself."

Demeter looked up long enough for us to see her purse her lips together. She quickly went back to work, before finally starting to set down the magnifying glass and leaned back on her desk chair. We had met in her flower shop once again, though this time in her office instead of her garden. Her office was on the top floor and looked like a normal office that was overrun with vines and plants. The officer itself was surrounded by glass windows which had vines snaking all over them while the floor was nothing but dirt and roots.

"You know I've been in the gardening business for thousands of years. I think I can tell the difference between a magical apple and a granny smith that was covered with gold paint." She sighed and set the apple on the table beside her magnifying glass.

"Are you sure mother?" Katie asked hopefully, putting a pleasant smile on her face. "I mean, you might be tired and might not be able to tell the difference."

"Perhaps I might be a bit tired." In response, she turned to me. "But I might let Nathan here answer for me."

All eyes were now facing me. I sucked in a breath and tried not to look so uncomfortable. After a few moments of awkward silence, Demeter gestured impatiently. Finally, I sighed and shook my head. "I'm sorry, my lady. We weren't able to get the apple."

Demeter nodded but did not look surprised. She swept her hand and sent the apple tumbling off the table. "So, I suppose this means the quest is a failure. You know what that means."

"I know, lady." I said, bowing my head humbly. "I understand the consequences and I will accept them."

The goddess nodded firmly, but I could see the respect in her eyes. I hung my head and opened my mouth to thank her for her time when Katie stood up. She moved with such speed that she nearly knocked her chair down. "Mother, you can't possibly hope to enforce this!"

"I told him that he would need to bring me the golden apple, he did not accomplish that. That was our deal." Demeter reminded her sternly, giving her a slightly impatient look.

"But it's not fair. What about me mother? Shouldn't I have a say to who I date?" Katie protested angrily, looking up at her mother defiantly. She placed both hands on the table and leaned forward towards Demeter.

This took the goddess off guard. She looked at her daughter then to me, then to her daughter once again. Demeter huffed and straightened her posture to try and make herself seem taller. "This is not how I taught you to behave daughter. If you hope to convince me by acting like this then you have another thing coming."

"And you keep on controlling me like this!" Katie snapped back, her voice rising angrily. "You always said how you hated your father acting like this."

There was a long pause after that. The goddess's eyes widened in surprise as she heard this. Slowly, Demeter started to rise to her feet, her gaze glued on her daughter. Katie kept her jaw clenched, not regretting her words. Instead she simply tightened her hands into a fist.

Both women feel silent. The tension started to boil over and filled the room. Sam and I looked at each other, exchanging nervous glances. Finally Demeter pointed towards the door. "Leave, both of you."

Without another word, both of us quickly hurried out. A plant pulled the door open for us to let us out and shut the door behind. When we were outside, the two of us turned around and looked at the windows. The two of them were yelling at each other, or at least that's what it seemed from the way they threw their hands in the air. Katie didn't back down though even as her mother angrily jabbed a finger at her.

"Listen, I think you did the right thing back there." Sam remarked

I nodded my thanks, not taking my eyes off the office as they fought. It seemed to be dying down though as Demeter sank back to her chair and pinched the bridge of her nose. She made an absent gesture for us to come back in. When we entered once again, Katie was standing behind her mother. Her eyes were still blazing, but there was a smile on her face

"Well, my daughter has made some interesting points." Demeter admitted slowly, glancing at Katie before nodding to herself. "She has said that perhaps I was being a bit too hasty when I made that quest. For that I apologize."

I was taken off guard by that, but managed a weak nod. Demeter continued speaking. "So I have agreed to let you court you."

My knees began to feel weak as I heard this. They knocked together and threatened to give out right underneath me. It felt like a huge weight was just taken off my shoulders as the words were said. "Thank you."

"However," Demeter stopped me from staying anymore. She snapped her fingers and a huge leather bound book appeared in the air in front of her. It landed on her desk with a loud thud that send a wave of dust flying everywhere. We call coughed and waved at the air, but she did not seem bothered. Instead she began to open the book. "We have some ground rules to set."


End file.
